Hantavirus concerns/questions?

Question

This stupid mouse has been in my house a few days now. We have set traps and it ignores them! I haven't got a very good look at it because it's pretty quick, but from what I've seen it's not a very big one and appears to be a grey mouse. It's hanging around in a very bad place - behind our computer stand. That holds wires to the computer, tower, printer, speakers, etc...
I'm pretty sure it's been under the one recliner too since it's all right in the living room together. That chair is a popular seat, so it concerns me that a mouse could "nest" inside it.
I've seen it running around in the daytime and night-time. It'll run real quick and you'll just see a dark flash from the corner of your eye. I found what I believe may have been it's nesting area. It was under the printer self. It looked like it was made from stuff torn out of our dog bed (but I didn't touch it, so I don't know what exactly it was made of). I swept it up with a broom and dust pan and tossed it outside. I wiped the area I found it down with a Clorox disinfecting wipe.

Now, because this is a rodent, I'm fearful of hantavirus. Obviously, I don't know whether or not this particular mouse has the disease or not. I know deer mice are main carriers for it, but I don't know what type of mouse this is because like I said, it's super quick so I haven't exactly been able to examine it clearly.

I don't have a mask, so when I got rid of whatever was under the printer shelf, I covered my mouth/nose with my hoodie. Afterwards, I used the Clorox wipe then I washed my hands twice with soap and water.

I know hantavirs is passed to humans through exposure of mouse droppings/pee, saliva and bites. I haven't seen any mouse droppings anywhere, but I'm afraid they may be under the stand. It would have had to use the bathroom, right? I mean it's been in the house for a few days now - surely it has went somewhere. The stand would be very difficult to move, so it scares me to think that there may be disease-causing things under it from the mouse that I can't see.

When I vacuum, I don't get overly close to the stand. I'll vacuum around it and use the attachments along the edges, but I don't move it or stick the attachments directly underneath it. It still makes me nervous though - if there IS something under the shelf that can be harmful, it'd be possible for me to stir it up by vacuuming around the area, right?

I don't have any known health issues, but my mom and dad do. My mom especially scares me with a disease like this because she has asthma. I've heard hantavirus can mess with your breathing, so it scares me that a disease like that would be very, very bad on her. My dad has diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure problems.

How truly serious is hantavirus? I've heard several different things - it's a death sentence, it's possible to recover from it, you'll be fine, you just go to the hospital, it depends on the person, etc...
So what really IS fact? How can you prevent catching the disease?

I live in Ohio if that matters. I've heard that certain states have little to no issues with the disease while others are really bad about it and have several reports of it each year. So is my particular state a "safe zone" so to speak, or is it one of the risky ones?

And can cats/dogs get it too? I'd hate for anything to happen to us or our babies (pets)! And I'm so sorry if anyone feels I'm being over-dramatic. I feel stupid for asking as I feel I'm coming off as paranoid, but hantavirus is very scary and I've heard it's a nasty, terrible disease. I know there's a lot of other stuff that can kill you too, but when I have a random mouse on the loose and I know rodents can carry nasty diseases, it's scary. I was just looking for some truth and answers.

Answer 1

Buy disposable dust masks at a hardware store and use them any time you stir up dust such as vacuuming. That's what they taught us when I worked at Yosemite and recently some people have died from hantavirus there.

Answer 2

Mice for your apartment needs to be addressed by using an exterminator. Two things are at predicament here 1) investigate and correct how the mice have become in the dwelling. In lots of older properties this answer could never be learned. 2) Mice generally tend to devour the coverings on the wiring within the walls of the residence. A harmful thing. Can result in electrical fires burning throughout the partitions. The exterminator can deal with the apartment so mice will not wish to return.

Answer 3

First calm down its a mouse not a moose your short story was enjoyable , ever thought about writing a book ?



The Rat is the Virus problem , not the Mouse get a mouse trap and put cheese on it.