State warns residents of disease spread by rodents

The death of a 52-year-old man earlier this month from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a disease spread by rodents, has prompted State Public Health Officer Dr. Mark Horton to remind Californians entering cabins, trailers and other buildings infested with rodents to take precautions to prevent exposure to the virus that causes the disease.

The Los Angeles County man was exposed to the virus in a Mono County trailer park while on vacation. He was hospitalized and died in Nevada.

"Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a rare, but often fatal disease spread by rodents," said Horton. "The chances of getting the virus are greatest when entering or cleaning enclosed spaces where wild rodents have been present."

The disease is caused by a virus that individuals contract through contact with the urine, droppings or saliva of wild mice, primarily deer mice. Breathing small particles of mouse urine or droppings that have been stirred up into the air is the most common means of infection.

The illness begins with fever, headache and muscle ache and progresses rapidly to severe difficulty breathing and, in about a third of California cases, death.

Treatment for the disease depends upon the severity of an individual's symptoms. Prompt diagnosis and medical treatment increase an individual's chances of recovery.

Since the disease was first identified in 1993, there have been 46 cases in California and 438 cases nationally. This is the 16th fatal case in California. About 33 percent of the cases identified in California have been fatal. To prevent the disease, Horton recommended the following precautions:

+Avoid areas, especially indoors, where wild rodents are likely to have been present.

+Spray diluted bleach on areas contaminated with rodent droppings and urine. Wear plastic gloves and use a wet sponge or mop to clean the contaminated area.

+Do not sweep or vacuum. Place the waste in double plastic bags, each tightly sealed, and discard in the trash. Wash hands thoroughly afterward.

+Do not touch or handle live rodents and wear gloves when handling dead rodents. Spray dead rodents with diluted bleach and dispose of them in the same way as droppings.

+Wash hands thoroughly after handling dead rodents.

+Keep rodents out of buildings by removing stacked wood, rubbish piles and discarded junk from around homes and sealing any holes where rodents could enter.

+Keep food in tightly sealed containers and store away from rodents.

If there are large numbers of rodents present in a home or other building, contact a pest control service to remove them.

This story provided by StatePoint Media.