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| Image of Deer Mouse taken from CDC |
I read in the paper the other day that seven Yosemite
visitors have recently been stricken with Hantavirus. Three died. Hantaviruses are found in the
droppings, urine and saliva of infected deer mice. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), the illness
caused by the virus, can take 3 to 60 days to develop after exposure. Symptoms
include fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea. The syndrome is
fatal in 30%-40% of all cases. There is no vaccine,
treatment or cure for HPS. Hantavirus is typically
transmitted by breathing in particles in the air from the droppings, urine and
saliva of infected rodents. However, there have been a small number of reported
cases of HPS believed to have been
contracted through rodent bites. Since the virus was first identified in the United States in 1993, there
have been 67 cases in California and 593 nationwide including along the Appalachian
Trail possibly in Virginia. Rodents, themselves, neither get sick nor can they pass
along the infection to other animals; however the Center for Disease Control,
CDC, has identified the ability of Hantavirus to adapt to new rodent species.
Although currently rare, HPS is potentially deadly and may be an
emerging disease. Rodent control in and around the home (and Curry Village) remains the primary
strategy for preventing Hantavirus infection.
Knowing
about Hantavirus, I was distressed and disgusted upon returning from an
extended trip in the first year we owned our home to discover mouse droppings
in the pantry and utility room. My husband took care of the capture and removal
and I took care of the safe cleanup and mouse proofing the house, while the cat
provided monitoring, patrolling the house at night. The only comments I have on
mouse capture is that peanut butter and walnuts are excellent bait for either the capture and release traps or the spring traps. It appears
that mice love nuts and the ruined baking supplies provided excellent bait for
my husband’s trapping. It took a while, but eventually the husband was able to
rid the house of mice. Though at one point it seemed he would dump the mouse in
the woods and it would sneak right back in through the gas pipe in the
fireplace. Eventually, I managed to seal up all likely entries and we have been
mouse free for a while, but annual maintenance is necessary to keep mice out of
the house.
A
mouse can fit through the narrowest gap, seemingly flattening themselves to
crawl into the house. According to the Center for Disease Control a gap of a
quarter of an inch or a hole the size of a pencil eraser is large enough for a
mouse to enter. A systematic approach is best for sealing all entry points.
First of all, there is no way to prevent mice from getting into the garage
because garage doors just do not seal that tight in their tracks. Instead, it
is necessary to keep all nesting material and clutter out of the garage and
seal all entries to the house. If you keep your trash cans in the garage make
sure that the can(s) has a tight lid and no holes in the can. The garage turned
out to be an area of entry into our house. Because of a sloping lot that gives
me a daylight basement, the top of the foundation is about 12 inches above the
garage floor. A compressed layer of insulation had allowed the mice entry into
the basement. Steel wool and lath screening was pushed into every crack, the
area caulked and thanks to Larry Reed, carpenter extraordinaire, the garage was
finished, trimmed and sealed. New weather stripping was placed on every
exterior door. Lath screen was cut to fit around all the kitchen pipes, the
dryer vent pipe, the gas pipe to the fireplace the pilot light and valve to the
fireplace. The space between the
foundation and siding was carefully caulked and sealed. Attic vents were
screened. Windows were caulked and weather stripping on the windows checked. All
exterior holes for electrical, plumbing,
and gas lines were carefully sealed with Duxseal.
Do
not sweep or vacuum up mouse urine, droppings, or nests. This will cause virus
particles to go into the air, where they can be breathed in. To clean up the
mouse dropping and my pantry, and utility room I first geared up. According to OSHA
and the CDC if there is not a heavy accumulation of droppings you need only wear disposable protective clothing and gloves (neoprene, nitrile or latex-free), rubber boots and a disposable N95 respiratorto safely clean up rodent droppings. A N95 disposable respirator is just one of
those white dust masks (look for the certification number and yes, I keep them
in the house), I wore my rain boots and some old work cloths that I threw out
afterwards. The first thing I did was throw out all the food in the pantry and sprayed the shelf paper with
disinfectant. Make sure you get the urine and droppings very wet. Let it soak
for 5 minutes and then use paper towel to wipe up the urine and droppings and
throw the paper towels into a plastic bag and seal carefully. I also removed
the shelf paper and then cleaned the pantry again using disinfectant.
In
the utility room I sprayed the floor and all flat surfaces including furnace
ducts, modem shelf and top of the furnace, hot water heater and pressure tank with
disinfectant, let it soak in for five minutes then used paper towels to wipe up
all the droppings and then used a disposable swifter wet mop to mop the room.
The basement was never cleaner. After cleanup is complete and all paper towels and
swifter pads sealed in plastic bags, wash you gloved hands and boots with spray
a disinfectant or a bleach solution before taking the gloves and boots off.
Then throw the gloves out along with the clothes. Wash hands with soap and warm water after
taking off your gloves and take a nice hot shower before going to the store to
buy new shelf paper and pantry staples. While at the store buy heavy plastic
canisters to store grains, and baking supplies.
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