HARRISBURG — A man contracted and recovered from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare and potentially fatal pneumonia-like virus carried by rodents, the state health department said Tuesday.

The unidentified 40-year-old man worked at a Boy Scout camp in Clearfield County. He was hospitalized after falling ill earlier this month but has since been discharged, said spokesman Dan Miller.

Hantavirus is carried by rodents, especially mice and rats, primarily in rural areas. People are infected by inhaling airborne particles of the virus and by direct contact with rodents' urine, droppings or nests. It cannot be spread from person to person.

The camp has since cleaned rodent droppings in buildings, put in traps and poison bait to reduce rodent populations, and sealed openings to prevent rodents from entering, the health department said. Because the camp took immediate steps to avoid further exposures, it was allowed to remain open, officials said.

In the past decade, only three previous cases were diagnosed in state residents, including two who died, according to the health department.