SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The state Department of Health reports two additional confirmed cases of hantavirus, both from McKinley County in northwestern New Mexico.

Hantavirus infection is a deadly disease transmitted by infected rodents through urine, droppings or saliva.

The department says the additional cases involving a 59-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman who are hospitalized are the seventh and eighth cases in in New Mexico in 2016.

There have been four New Mexico fatalities from hantavirus this year. Those involved people from McKinley, San Juan, Cibola and Torrance counties. Two patients from Santa Fe and Sandoval counties recovered.

People contract hantavirus by inhaling the virus, often when they are cleaning up rodent droppings and nesting materials.

The department says it’s important to close up any openings in homes so mice can’t enter.

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