Old wounds reopened

Her father, for his part, recalled how it felt to come down with hantavirus, causing body aches and a bitter taste that even made sipping water unpleasant.

"It started with a feeling of weakness. I didn't feel like eating. And I started to get purple spots," he said. "That same day, I lost consciousness."

"People looked poorly at my father. It's not his fault he got sick," she told AFP, her eyes welling up.

"Nobody chooses to get sick, much less infect others, much less lose a mother."

Agencies via Xinhua