Hantavirus

I read in the paper the mysterious deaths of actor Gene Hackman was due to heart failure about a week after his wife classical pianist and businesswoman Betsy Arakawa, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hantaviruses is found in the droppings, urine, and saliva of infected deer mice (Peromyscus spp) in many parts of the country including Virginia and West Virginia. 

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 about 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.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) became a nationally notifiable disease in the 1990’s and is now reported through the Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) . As of the end of 2022, 864 cases of hantavirus disease were reported in the United States since surveillance began in 1993. These were all laboratory-confirmed cases and included HPS and non-pulmonary hantavirus infection.

In New Mexico there have been reported a total of 122 confirmed cases since the disease was first tracked. Of those cases, 52 died and 70 survived. That is a death rate of 42.6%. New Mexico has the most cases of any state in the Union. Virginia has two known cases since 1993. Both individuals died.

One person in Virginia died of hantavirus in 2024. The man was a Virginia Tech student and had recently been conducting field studies of small mammals in West Virginia. Health officials believe that he was exposed to the virus through contact with the urine, feces or saliva of these animals. Hantavirus disease is not transmitted from person to person.

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 to discover mouse droppings in the pantry and utility room when we first purchased this house. 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. Mice love nuts. It took a while, but eventually the husband was able to rid the house of mice without killing any. Though at one point it seemed he would dump the mouse in the woods, and it would sneak right back in. Eventually, I managed to seal up all likely entries and we have been mouse free for years. Also, we have added to our cat collection. Nonetheless, annual maintenance is necessary to keep mice out of the house.

A mouse can fit through the narrowest gap, 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, 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 twelve 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 late 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.

If you see any, 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 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 respirator  safely clean up rodent droppings. I have a large supply of N95 respirators leftover from Covid. I wore my rain boots and some old work clothes that I threw out afterwards. The first thing I did was throw out all impacted materials and floors and shelves with disinfectants. 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. Clean the area a second time using disinfectant.

After the 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.