I shouldn’t read the news, sometimes I read things that scare me half to death, this was one of those things.
I was sitting outside on my patio, reading the news on my smart phone when a little mouse came out of my shed and ran into a crack between the patio and fence. Awww, cute little mouse, run and hide.
That was precisely when the news story about two people dying in Utah from the hantavirus. What? Isn’t’ that caused my rodents? Suddenly that little mouse didn’t look so cute.
I wouldn’t say that I have a mouse problem, I usually see one outside every year. The year they dug up the street behind my house I saw more, but usually, one a year. Does that mean there are more that I don’t see? I guess a mouse would have a family.
Although hantavirus is very rare it’s still important to know the causes and how to prevent exposure. Although it is a deadly lung disease it is not transmitted person to person, you can only get it by being exposed to dust or droppings in rodent infested areas.
If you see any rodent droppings or urine you should wear glasses, a mask and rubber gloves for the clean up. This includes cleaning out sheds or garages that have been closed for a while, even if you don’t see droppings.
Bleach and water is the recommended clean up method. You should soak the area with a bleach and water mix, let it sit for five minutes and clean it up with something disposable. After the initial clean up mop the area with bleach and water again.
Wash your gloved hands with soap and water before removing the gloves, when your remove them, throw them away and then thoroughly clean you hands.
Guess I know what I’ll be doing to the shed next weekend. And I’ll be trying to figure out how to keep those critters from coming back.