The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services says a Big Horn County man has died of hantavirus.

The agency says it was the first death this year due to hantavirus. The name of the 64-year-old man was not released Friday. He died earlier this week.

Montana has had eight reported hantavirus deaths since 1993. The last was in January 2007.

In total, the state has had 29 reported infections since 1993.

Hantavirus is contracted by inhaling airborne particles from the droppings of deer mice. Symptoms may include fever, vomiting, muscle and body aches and fatigue. A person's lungs eventually begin filling with fluid, causing shortness of breath.