The owners of a Texas home featured on the TLC show, Hoarding: Buried Alive had collected more than just years of clutter.

When a worker who was helping the family clean the house became ill, doctors learned she had contracted the Hantavirus - a deadly, airborne disease spread by rodent droppings.

Friday night, health officials descended on the home in the Houston suburb of The Woodlands and placed it under quarantine.

"We asked the fire department hazardous materials team to come out, don their protective gear, and enter the home to close the windows to prevent any further spread of pathogens outside the house," Dr. Mark Escott, deputy director of health in Montgomery County, Texas, said.

The deadly Hantavirus is also threatening thousands of visitors to Yosemite National Park. A third person has died from the disease after vacationing in the park bringing the total number of infected people to eight and prompting warnings to all who enter. The popular Curry Village has been the epicenter of the outbreak. Rangers believe mice got into the inner walls of some of the area's tent cabins. Park officials are concerned for the 29,000 people who visit the park.

"The letter and email that we're sending them is a health alert saying that we have had these cases," park ranger Scott Gediman said. "There's no need for immediate action unless people are exhibiting symptoms."

The early symptoms of Hantavirus mimic the flu - headaches, fever and body aches.

In Colorado, 7-year-old Sierra Jane Downing is recovering from a disease also spread by rodents - one thought to have been wiped out centuries ago - the Bubonic Plague. Doctors say she contracted the rare disease after coming into contact with a dead squirrel during a camping trip.

"She didn't touch it with her hands, and so what we think happened is the fleas jumped from the squirrel to her little warm body or her sweatshirt and when she tied on her sweatshirt the fleas bit her," Darcy Downing, Sierra Jane's mom, said. 

While cases of the Bubonic Plague are rare, reported cases of the West Nile Virus have increased. As of last week, 48 states have reported West Nile infections in nearly 2,000 people. That's the highest number of cases since 1999.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Texas has seen the worse outbreak with nearly half of the nationwide cases coming from that state.

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