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Early symptoms include fatigue, fever and muscle aches, especially in the large muscle groups—thighs, hips, back, and sometimes shoulders. These symptoms are universal. There may also be headaches, dizziness, chills, and abdominal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

People who are ill with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and do not get help quickly may die. Those that survive recover quickly, though full recovery often takes several months.

People can become infected with this virus after coming in contact with urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. When fresh rodent urine, droppings, or nesting materials are stirred up (for example, when vacuuming or sweeping), tiny particles containing the virus get into the air.

Symptoms of the illness caused by Seoul virus usually begin within 1 to 2 weeks after contact with infectious material and may include fever, headache, back and abdominal pain, chills, nausea, blurred vision, flushing of the face, inflammation or redness of the eyes, and rash.

The brown or Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) as well as the black rat (Rattus rattus) carry the Seoul hantavirus. Other animals can be carriers of the Seoul hantavirus, but they cannot transmit it to humans.

For Seoul virus, the natural host is the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus), whereas for Sin Nombre it's the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). In the rodents that carry them, these viruses don't cause disease, but do cause life-long infection and shedding of the virus.