The deer mouse is the primary carrier of the virus responsible for most cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in North America. They avoid predators by nesting in vacant burrows, brush piles, and sheds or cabins. Each type of hantavirus has a preferred rodent carrier. It can also be found in the Midwest and the West of the US, as well as in Mexico. The white-footed mouse looks a lot like a deer mouse but carries a different virus (New York virus NYV). Hantavirus 7 Steps to Safe Clean-up of Mouse Droppings, Nests, or Dead Mice Hantavirus is a severe, potentially fatal, illness. This disease has been attracting the attention of pest control professionals because it is generally spread by a common rodent, the deer mouse.So, let’s go through some Q and A about HPS and how it intersects with the pest control industry. Although many kinds of mouse droppings can spread disease, contact with deer mouse scat is especially harmful. Several have died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, with as many as ten thousand thought to have been exposed while staying in Yosemite National Park this summer. This is particularly the case when the early symptoms of hantavirus mimic the flu. Since it is hard to tell if a mouse or a rat carries a hantavirus, it is best to avoid all wild mice and rats and to safely clean up any rodent urine, droppings, or nests in your home. Deer Mouse Droppings and Hantavirus. Though it is passively borne by the mice and rats who carry it, and though human infection is relatively rare, once humans become infected it can turn into Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) which, sadly, is often fatal. Other rodents, such as house mice, roof rats, and Norway rats, have never been known to give people HPS. Deer mouse droppings are small and oval-shaped like the feces of a house mouse. Other indicators include: Chewed Furniture – Deer mice gnaw on mattresses, couches, chairs, and paper materials to file their teeth down or create nests. Recently, we’ve been hearing talk on the news about Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). It is in the eastern part of the US, from the southern part of New England to Mid-Atlantic states (NY and NJ) down to southern states. Humans can be exposed to Hantavirus when the urine or feces of an infected rodent become airborne. Inhalation: Main route of transmission Deer mice forage at night and keep close to the ground. The white-footed mouse looks a lot like a deer mouse but carries a different virus (New York virus NYV). Finding the poop indoors strongly indicates a home infestation. This new hantavirus was first termed Muerto Canyon virus, then Sin Nombre virus (SNV), and eventually … How Can I Tell if I Have a Deer Mouse Problem? A man in China reportedly died from hantavirus, a rare disease spread through rodent droppings, this week. This is particularly the case when the early symptoms of hantavirus mimic the flu. In the United States, deer mice spread the hantavirus to humans. the state. It is in the eastern part of the US, from the southern part of New England to Mid-Atlantic states (NY and NJ) down to southern states. Exposure to hantavirus can happen if you breathe in the virus from an infected rodent's urine, saliva, or droppings. In addition, army researchers soon isolated the same virus from an infected patient who also had exposures to mice. In B.C., it is typically deer mice. Here's what to know about hantavirus symptoms, prevention, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Infected deer mice appear healthy and normal. Each type of hantavirus has a preferred rodent carrier. Because the early symptoms of hantavirus may not immediately appear, indeed may not present for almost two months, a person needs to be proactive when he or she believes an exposure to mouse or rat droppings has occurred. When fresh droppings or urine are stirred up, small particles containing the hantavirus become airborne. Therefore, persons should avoid contact with all rodents. Hantavirus is a disease carried by a variety of small rodents and passed to humans through urine, feces, and saliva. In the U.S., deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), cotton rats, and rice rats in the Southeast, and the white-footed mouse in the Northeast can carry the virus. Rats and mice give it to you, so it’s one of those diseases that’s sure to get more prevalent in any long-term disaster. Dogs, cats, birds, insects, and other animals cannot serve as a source of hantavirus infection. This means that anyone who disturbs areas of mice or mice droppings, such as when cleaning, can be at risk. Other hantavirus carriers include the white-tailed mouse, cotton rat and rice rat. Seeing a deer mouse or a nest is a sign of infestation. A deer mouse makes its home among deteriorating sheets of fabric and feathers. Hantavirus is more common in rural or semi-rural areas, but any area with a pest problem is a potential hazard. Rodents shed the hantavirus in their urine, feces, and saliva.