Hantavirus panic? Americans are more likely to die from a lightning strike



As headlines surrounding hantavirus continue to spark fear of another pandemic, BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler is urging Americans to take a breath and look at the actual numbers.

While the virus carries a frighteningly high fatality rate for those infected, Wheeler argues the odds of even contracting hantavirus remain astronomically low compared to everyday risks Americans routinely ignore.

“So, here are your odds of dying from hantavirus: 1 in 30 to 35 million,” Wheeler begins. “That’s your odds of dying from the hantavirus. You can compare that, and I suggest you do, to your odds of dying from being struck by lightning: 1 in 15 to 20 million. So, you are more likely to die from being struck by lightning in the United States than you are to die from the hantavirus.”

“Your odds, by the way, of dying in a car accident: 1 in 8 to 9,000. Your odds of dying from a medical error: 1 in 1,000 to 1,400. By the way, dying from a medical error is the third leading cause of death in our country after heart disease and cancer,” she continues.


“If someone is telling you to be frightened of the hantavirus, they are lying to you. If someone is telling you to be more worried about a 1 in 30 to 35 million odds chance of dying from the hantavirus while ignoring the approximately 350,000 people in the United States who die from a medical error from doctors messing up every year, you should mute them,” she adds.

While the fatality rate for hantavirus is high, the amount of cases per year in the United States is not.

“There’s an average of 30 cases of hantavirus per year that result in approximately 8 to 12 deaths per year. So, that is a case fatality rate, by the way, that’s extremely high. That’s 35 to 38% case fatality rate, which is a frightening statistic,” Wheeler says.

Hantavirus cases also historically mostly occur in a concentrated region, with 94% of the cases occurring west of the Mississippi River.

“They all happen around spring cleaning time when people in the Southwest, you know, clean out a shed that has the feces of the deer mouse, for example. That’s where the deer mouse is, in the Southwest. The dust, they inhale the dust, and they contract the hantavirus from it,” Wheeler explains.

Patient zero on the cruise ship also happened to put himself in a dangerous situation before contracting the virus.

“Before he boarded the cruise ship, [he] visited a dump, a landfill, that was contaminated with rodent feces. He went there, as an ornithologist might, to bird watch, despite the fact that local residents avoided the area because they knew it to be contaminated,” Wheeler says.

“They knew it to be dangerous to health. He did this anyway,” she continues, pointing out that while it may sound harsh, it was his decision.

“We should have societal recognition of decisions made by individuals that are bad decisions. For example, ... this man died, and so maybe people don’t want to talk about his decisions because he’s dead, but are we avoiding the personal responsibility entirely?” Wheeler asks.

“He did something unwise. He did something imprudent. He hurt himself. He hurt his wife,” she says, “He hurt other people.”

And while there has been speculation that it’s a new strain, Wheeler explains that “it is not a new strain.”

“Has the virus actually mutated?” she asks. “Well, according to the science, according to an analysis of what the DNA looks like, the answer to that is no. In fact, it’s very, very similar to the strain of hantavirus that caused an outbreak in Argentina in 2018.”

“That is not a new strain,” she adds.

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'Left for greener pastures together': Professional rodeo cowboy and his horse killed by lightning strike



A professional rodeo athlete and his horse were killed by a lightning strike in a rural area of Nebraska.

Terrel Vineyard, 27, was on horseback checking on cattle north of Oshkosh shortly after 2 p.m. on June 21, the Garden County Attorney’s Office said in a statement to KNOP-TV.

Vineyard, a married father of three, was pronounced dead by first responders at the scene.

An autopsy confirmed that Vineyard died from a lightning strike, the attorney’s office said.

Vineyard's horse, named Dose, was also killed by the lightning strike.

Vineyard was a professional calf and team roper who qualified for the World Series of Team Roping in Las Vegas on three occasions.

Mike Kammerer, president of the Wyoming Rodeo Association, told the Cowboy State Daily, "Our thoughts and prayers and condolences for the families from the Wyoming Rodeo Association. That just hits close to home, because the one thing about rodeo families is they’re all pretty tightknit."

Vineyard leaves behind his wife, Stacey, and three young daughters.

He was buried on Tuesday in Nebraska.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to financially assist the Vineyard family.

"Terrel had many horses along the way but always had a main mount during each phase of his life. Terrel purchased Dose a few years ago as a roping prospect. Terrel and Dose left for greener pastures together – Terrel with his rope in hand," the fundraising campaign stated.

Vineyard and his wife got married earlier this year, according to the GoFundMe listing.

Stacey Vineyard wrote on Facebook, “June 27th, 2023 we laid our husband, son, and brother to rest. It has been truly humbling to receive the love that has been shown for Terrel and all of us."

Mourners brought horses to Terrel's funeral service.

"The Vineyard family wants to thank everyone for what they have done for us the last week and moving forward. Helping us prepare for Terrel’s service and making sure we are also taken care of," the widow said. "Thank you to those who graciously contributed to the girls' memorial account and to those who have made meals for us. It has been truly humbling to receive the love that has been shown for Terrel and all of us."

The National Lightning Safety Council said Vineyard's death was the sixth U.S. fatality from lightning in 2023. There were 19 lightning-caused fatalities in 2022.

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13-year-old girl struck by lightning in Chicago: Report



A 13-year-old girl was supposedly struck by lightning in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.

Reports say that the strike happened while the girl and her family were standing outside the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest greenhouses in the United States, which is located about 20 minutes west of downtown Chicago. The area was under a severe thunderstorm watch at the time of the incident.

A spokesman from a Chicago fire department confirmed that the unidentified girl was transported to Stroger Hospital following the lightning strike and was said to be in critical condition. No new information regarding her condition has since been released.

According to a report from WBBM-TV, an ice cream truck vendor, who was packing up his belongings and preparing to return home for the day, was in the area when the lightning strike occurred. The man told WBBM-TV that a storm front blew in suddenly while the girl and her family were in the conservatory parking lot. He then "heard a crack" and thought that lightning had "hit a tree." However, he then heard the sound of fire trucks and saw emergency medical teams rush the young girl away in an ambulance.

Though the chances of a person being struck by lightning are remote, they are not as rare as some might think. The National Weather Service claims that approximately 43 people die from a lightning strike each year, but it also states that only 10% of lightning strike victims die, suggesting that the number of people struck by lightning in any given year is closer to 430. NWS lists an individual's chances of being struck in a given year at about one in 1.2 million.

George Floyd mural destroyed by lightning strike, witnesses say — and reactions are particularly pointed



A George Floyd mural in Toledo, Ohio, was destroyed by what witnesses say was a lightning strike, police told WTVG-TV.

What are the details?

The building wall upon which the mural was painted collapsed, the station said, adding that WTVG's Doppler radar showed a lightning strike around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the block where the building — which used to house the Mugshots Bar — is located.

In the aftermath, the station said Toledo police were seen outside the building and setting up tape around the pile of bricks upon which the artwork was crafted.

George Floyd Mural Reportedly Struck by Lightning in Toledo, Ohioyoutu.be

The building itself is structurally sound, a city building inspector told WTVG, and the owner of the building is working to clean up the bricks and tear down the rest of the mural wall.

The mural was painted in July 2020 — nearly one year to the date of its destruction, the station said. Groups have held memorial services for Floyd in front of the mural, WTVG noted, adding that one of them took place on the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The City of Toledo said in a statement that officials will work with the arts commission on planning a new mural or help the commission and the artist find a new location, the station said, adding that they were heartbroken to see artist David Ross' work collapse.

What was the reaction to the mural's destruction?

Commenters had a bit of a field day reacting to a WTVG investigative reporter's tweet about the mural's demise:

  • "And they say God isn't real," one commenter wrote.
  • "I'm not a religious person whatsoever, but if there was ever an event that caused me to pause, this would be it," another user said. "Wow..."
  • "Warning — be on the lookout for liberal logic on this: Lightning struck the mural; There is more lightning because of climate change; Republicans don't believe in climate change; Republicans are all white racists; White racists therefore destroyed the mural," another commenter quipped.
  • "Now BLM gonna say that lighting strikes are racist, and they should check their privileges," another user observed.
  • "Was wondering why we wanted a mural of a criminal anyway," another commenter noted. "Of course it's awful he's dead, but that doesn't mean we should celebrate a guy who held a knife to a pregnant woman's belly."

The following video includes a snippet showing the mural prior to its destruction:

Toledo Black Lives Matter activists remember George Floyd one year lateryoutu.be