Outbreak history on May 14

Historical outbreak-response milestones recorded on this calendar date, drawn from WHO Disease Outbreak News, CDC archives, and primary epidemiological literature.

• 1993

  Hantavirus

  Sin Nombre virus identified at CDC

  CDC laboratories in Atlanta identified a previously-unknown hantavirus as the cause of a cluster of acute respiratory deaths in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. The discovery — initially called Muerto Canyon virus, then Four Corners virus, ultimately Sin Nombre ('the virus without a name') — established hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) as a distinct clinical entity for the first time.

Browse the full outbreak history calendar for milestones across all dates.