F***! Do I need to worry about hantavirus?

[SomethingClever]

So, a few months ago, I left a bag of dog food in the basement.

Apparently some mice got into it, as we eventually noticed one or two roaming around the house. I set out some traps, and caught 3 or 4 of 'em, and we got rid of the exposed dog food.

However... I then went into the basement where the food was and cleared out a bunch of droppings that were left behind. I stupidly vacuumed them out because I didn't know any better.

Well.... you're not supposed to vacuum mouse droppings because they can carry hantavirus, and vacuuming can aerosolize the particles into the air.

I think I did an ok job of not breathing any dust I created, but [censored], I didn't know I wasn't supposed to vacuum them.

I just found out that you're not supposed to do this yesterday... I vacuumed them last week.

Supposedly if you're going to get hantavirus, symptoms show up anywhere from a few days to a few weeks later.

WTF??????

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow even though I don't have any symptoms.... anything else I can do?

[eric5148]

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anything else I can do?

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Start writing up a will, you have one week to live.

[[censored]]

nice knowing you dude.

[Stuey]

What did the ones you caught look like? It is deer mice that carry that virus i think. They live outside normally also. I will look for a pic of one. They are mostly white and brown i think. I think you will be fine.

[SomethingClever]

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What did the ones you caught look like? It is deer mice that carry that virus i think. They live outside normally also. I will look for a pic of one. They are mostly white and brown i think. I think you will be fine.

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The neighbor said that there are deer mice around. However, he doesn't seem too knowledgeable in general.

These fuckers just looked like normal mice... I dunno.

I guess 14-15% of deer mice carry the virus, but I don't know if that means that of a given pack of 100, 14 or 15 will have it, or 14 or 15 out of 100 populations will have it.

[wacki]

Hanta is a rare but very real threat. ~400 cases in the US of which about 40% die. If your not incredibly sick in a month you're probably ok. If you get sick, and are experiencing severe muscle pain or shortness of breath, flip a coin as that is about the odds of you seeing the reaper.

The CDC will not test the mice for Hanta unless somebody is already sick with it.

Good luck. I'm sure you're fine though.

From now on avoid all rodents and spray their poop with bleach/hot water before picking it up.

[Stuey]

Very unlikely these type of mice would be in your basement. Garage yes but not in the house. Check out this pic I would not goto the doctor unless it is free and you have other health conserns. You will know soon enough if you have it.

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The deer mouse is about six inches long to the tip of its tail. It is grayish to light brown on top, with a white belly, large ears, and a furry tail that is white on the underside. Deer mice live in all parts of Washington, but mainly in rural areas. In comparison, the house mouse (Mus musculus) is grayish to light brown entirely (not white on the belly), with scales showing on its tail.



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[SomethingClever]

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From now on avoid all rodents and spray their poop with bleach/hot water before picking it up.

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From now on, I'm literally going to spray everything I touch with bleach.

Christ I'm paranoid. Will the doctor be able to determine if I've been infected? Like, with a blood test or something?

[SomethingClever]

See, that just looks like a regular mouse to me. I can't remember precisely what the ones in my house looked like, although 6-inches sounds longer than they were.

These were little guys.

[[censored]]

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flip a coin as that is about the odds of you seeing the reaper.



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Think about that for a minute SC