Sick holidaymakers ‘could have deadly virus’

Irish holidaymakers who are experiencing flu-like symptoms after travelling to far-flung countries over the summer have been warned they could be carrying a killer virus.

Chiefs of the Tropical Medical Bureau said countries as diverse as Chile, the Ivory Coast, India, and Paraguay had all seen outbreaks of hantarivus in the past five months — a rare lung disease for which there is no cure.

Symptoms for the virus, which is carried in rodent faeces, urine, and saliva, are similar to those in common flus and include headaches, fevers, shortness of breath, muscle aches, and coughs.