Spring Cleaning?
The Wyoming Department of Health is sharing steps to help prevent hantavirus. It’s a rare but potentially deadly disease spread by infected deer mice.
Hantavirus can cause symptoms including tiredness, fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, and coughing. If you have these symptoms after a rodent exposure, you should contact a healthcare provider quickly.
While there is no specific treatment for hantavirus infection, those infected receive supportive care such as hydration and other symptom treatment.
To safely clean areas where rodents may have been, follow these steps:
• Ventilate: Open doors and windows for at least 30 minutes before starting to clean.
• Do not sweep or vacuum: Avoid sweeping and vacuuming, as this can stir up virus particles.
• Wear protective gear: Use rubber or plastic gloves and, if possible, a well-fitting N95 respirator.
• Disinfect: Spray droppings and contaminated areas with a bleach solution (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) or a household disinfectant. Let it soak for five minutes.
• Wipe up: Use paper towels to pick up droppings and throw it away in a sealed plastic bag.
• Clean and disinfect: Clean and disinfect all surfaces again after removing the droppings.
• Wash hands: Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water when done.
For more information about hantavirus, visit https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/hantavirus/