CDC recommends you NOT vacuum (even vacuums with a HEPA filter) or sweep rodent urine, droppings, or nesting materials. These actions can cause tiny droplets containing viruses to get into the air.
Wash your gloves before removing, and then wash your hands thoroughly (with warm soap and water). NOTE: never vacuum or sweep droppings, nests or dead mice. This can create dust that can be inhaled. The dust may contain Hantavirus.
For those who frequently handle or are frequently exposed to rodents in rural areas (such as mammalogists and pest control workers), CDC recommends wearing either a half-mask air-purifying (or negative-pressure) respirator or a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) with N-100 filters.
If no rodents are captured, the active infestation has been eliminated and enough time has passed so that any infectious virus in the rodent's urine/droppings or nesting material is no longer infectious. No need to toss them. The dishwashing soap used to wash them should be sufficient to disinfect them.
Discard any items that are no longer needed. Clean and disinfect any hard or nonporous items as recommended with a bleach solution or disinfectant. Follow recommendations for other materials like cloth and paper. Dispose of any cardboard boxes contaminated with urine or droppings.
The virus may remain infectious for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. Exposure to sunlight will decrease the time of viability and freezing temperatures will increase the time that the virus remains infectious.
For disinfecting dead rodents and areas contaminated with rodent droppings, urine and/or organic debris: Use a solution of 1.5 cups of bleach per gallon of water.
The risk of acquiring hantavirus is extremely rare, even among people who are consistently exposed to mice and other rodents. The majority of exposures (70%) occur around the home. Hantavirus poses no significant health risk to WSU employees provided that simple precautions are followed.
I saw a mouse in my house but no droppings.
Mice are elusive and often most active in the evening and during the night. When you see a mouse but no droppings it suggests that the infestation is only starting. You can check for the presence of mice droppings at the back of the microwave and fridge.
Mice can be kept away by using the smells of peppermint oil, cinnamon, vinegar, citronella, ammonia, bleach, and mothballs.
Hantavirus: Once thought to be rare this disease has been identified in rodents across Australia.
However, the virus is shed continuously from them: into the droppings and urine they leave around the room, and into their saliva, which dries on anything they have chewed, such as nesting material. Out in the environment like this, the virus can live for several days.
Who gets hantavirus disease? Anyone who comes into contact with infected rodent droppings, urine, saliva, nesting materials, or particles from these, can get hantavirus disease. Exposure to poorly ventilated areas with active rodent infestations in households, is the strongest risk factor for infection.
In fact, it's safe to say the connection is very dim. You see, mice are a lot like humans, pigs, or cats: they never "go" where they eat or live. They tend to create a specific area of their living area as "toilet" or simply go to the bathroom far away from their home.
Early symptoms include fatigue, fever and muscle aches, especially in the large muscle groups—thighs, hips, back, and sometimes shoulders. These symptoms are universal. There may also be headaches, dizziness, chills, and abdominal problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
House mice do not carry hantavirus. Other wild mice, like deer mice, can vector hantavirus, but are most often found in rural areas, the desert, and mountains and rarely invade inhabited human homes.
Only some kinds of mice and rats can give people hantaviruses that can cause HPS. In North America, they are the deer mouse, the white-footed mouse, the rice rat, and the cotton rat. However, not every deer mouse, white-footed mouse, rice rat, or cotton rat carries a hantavirus.
Surfaces infested by mice should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Dampen the urine, droppings and nesting materials with a commercial disinfectant or a mixture of bleach and water (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) and let soak at least 5 minutes.
Anyone who comes into contact with rodents that carry hantavirus is at risk of HPS. Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. Even healthy individuals are at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus.
There is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccine for hantavirus infection. However, we do know that if infected individuals are recognized early and receive medical care in an intensive care unit, they may do better.
No Droppings
Older droppings are hard and dry. You want to scoop them up. Then, watch for moist, fresh mouse droppings to appear. A lack of new droppings is typically a strong indicator that all the mice are gone.
Mice poop a lot, and they poop just about everywhere, so seeing their droppings is usually a good sign that the rodents have taken up residence. If an infestation goes on for long enough, you might start to notice a distinct and unpleasant smell, or even some strange markings on your walls.
Food products that have been exposed to filth, like rats, mice and other rodents, can make you or your family members sick. This includes food and drinks for people as well as food for animals, like pet food, bird seed or fish flakes. Throw away food products in plastic and paper containers.