Mouse Droppings?

Question

Hi,

I recently cleaned up a room + closet that contained alot of mouse droppings from apartment mice, me not knowing that it could be harmful i sweeped up some of the shredded paper and then proceeded to vacuum with no guard/mask/etc.

Am i going to die of the hantavirus now?

To the person at the bottom,

I am not experiencing any asmtha like symptons except for a cough i've had for the past couple of weeks, and i just carried about 7 bags of garbage down 3 flights of stairs in the cold (minnesota cold) but i guess the cough is from the outside, i am not experiencing any symptons and do not have a fever.

Answer 1

If you are, then I am too! Most vacs have a built in filter so you will not have a problem.

Answer 2

Jessie, If you are not experiencing any respiratory distress then it is doubtful you are contaminated. Astham like symptoms would be present and you would feel pretty sick with a high fever.

Mouse droppings are certainly risky things to clean up, but as someone else said many of the better vacuum cleaners have filters that can reducegreatly the risk. In future , if you are worried use an industrial mask when cleaning. This should be changed after every 20 minutes to ensure it is still a viable filter.

Answer 3

I am going to look up exactly what hantavirus is.. You stirred my curiousity because a few yrs. ago while cleanning a house with lots of mouse droppings, I got very ill and was diagnosed with astma at that time.. I was down sick for a week(with fever).. I had informed all the doctors of what I had been doing including the amount of dropping I had encountered. Nothing was ever mentioned about this virus.. just that I had asma now... If your sick I would go to a doc.. just to be sure your ok.. good luck..

Answer 4

No, I've cleaned up after many mice with bare hands and have never gotten sick. If you're looking for a way to relocate the mice, I've had great success with this live trap in my house:

http://veganstore.com/index.html?stocknumber=266

It’s also available for $2 cheaper here (although I prefer to buy it from the other place since I’m not a big fan of PETA):

https://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=HP200

I've caught over ten mice with it so far and it can be used over and over indefinitely. Or, you can try making the free homemade humane trap described here:

http://www.helpinganimals.com/wildlife_livingWithMice.asp

If you do live trap mice, please be sure to check the traps several times a day and release the mice promptly, approximately a mile away from your home. It is much more cruel to allow a mouse in a live trap to slowly starve to death than to kill it quickly with a snap trap. When you release the mice, do it in an area with some sheltering bushes or plants.

The absolute cruelest traps are glue traps. Mice have been known to gnaw off their own limbs and tear off their skin in an effort to escape, as they starve or dehydrate to death or suffocate in the glue. It can take three to five days for them to die. Poison isn't any better, as the mice die slowly and painfully from internal bleeding. It can take up to a week for them to die, and then they smell as they rot behind your walls.

It doesn't take much extra effort to be kind. You will feel better and so will the mice! Good luck!

Answer 5

No, and don't worry yourself silly like that, you'll only make yourself sick with stress. I have a summer cottage in the woods, when we aren't there , the critters are, including mice. I just clean when I get there and when I leave. Been doing this for 18 years and never got sick once.

Answer 6

Just know the symtoms, and see your doctor immediatly if you notice any. Dried mouse droppings are the worst for that.

-Dio

Answer 7

I sure hope not. Good luck with that.