Falcon area ideal for deer mice – and hantavirus

It’s springtime in the Pikes Peak Region, and we naturally have the urge to get busy with our spring cleaning. In Eastern El Paso County where we may have barns, sheds and RVs on our property; it’s often a time that dust gets stirred as we clear out storage items. Yet, it’s important to know that the dust you kick up may contain an invisible threat – hantavirus, responsible for two-dozen human deaths in Colorado since 1985.People are at risk for exposure to hantavirus when they come into contact with the droppings and urine of deer mice; commonly, when cleaning poorly ventilated structures where the mice nest. Deer mice are not typical brown or gray house mice. They have a distinctive tan and white coat and tail. Like any mice, deer mice might enter a home; but they are more often found in less used structures where they have access to nesting materials.And that’s the problem: Infected deer mice shed hantavirus in their waste, and when you clean out those areas and stir up dust; the virus becomes airborne and can enter your body through your lungs. Hantavirus causes a potentially life-threatening respiratory infection, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which was first recognized in the Colorado Four Corners area in 1993. Since then – counting a 1985 case later attributed to it – hantavirus has sickened 63 Colorado residents; 24 have died.El Paso County went for many years without any hantavirus cases, but a camper in northern El Paso County died of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in 2006.The good news is you can protect yourself from hantavirus by taking some relatively simple steps:Rodent-proof your home

• Store unused food, pet food or grain in sealed containers.
• Eliminate potential rodent food supplies and nesting places, such as trash or woodpiles. Even if you don’t have deer mice, you don’t want rodent droppings around you.
• Keep garbage cans tightly sealed.
• Fill all structural holes with wire screening, steel wool or cement.
• Set and maintain spring-loaded traps inside and outside the home.

Prepare the area before you clean

• Before cleaning a rodent-infested structure, open up windows and doors and air out the structure for at least 30 minutes.
• Spray a solution of nine-parts water to one-part household bleach on any materials, flooring or dust you intend to disturb. You may also use a general-purpose household disinfectant (make sure the label identifies it as a disinfectant and prepare solution according to manufacturer instructions). Soak the materials with this solution.
• Use a shovel to pick up soaked materials and dispose in sealed trash bags. Avoid sweeping or vacuuming contaminated surfaces because that will stir up dust.
• When possible, wear disposable gloves and a mask when cleaning.

There is no specific treatment or cure for hantavirus infection. Supportive care, often requiring hospitalization, is necessary until the illness runs its course. If you have these symptoms within six weeks of having contact with mouse droppings or nests, get in touch with your health care provider immediately.