New Delhi, May 9 -- An Arizona man, Gilbert Zermeño, who 24 years ago contracted hantavirus and lost his mother and sister to the illness, has now come forward to say that news of the recent outbreak has been hard to process.

Speaking with CBS News on Friday, Zermeño said, "I imagine I got the same feeling that every person who's ever contracted hantavirus and still deals with the effects afterwards has," and added, "It takes you back, and it's no less painful now than it was back then. It's hard. I'm not going to lie."

Recalling how he contracted the illness, the Arizona photojournalist said that back in 2002, when he was cleaning out the family house in Texas following the deaths of his mother and sister, he was exposed to r...