....Mouse Test Positive for Hantavirus

.... SAN DIEGO- December 6, 2012- A mouse trapped in Campo during routine monitoring has tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus, San Diego County Department of Environmental Health
officials said.

...“Infected mice rarely pose a threat to people if they remain in the wild,” said Jack Miller, director of the County Department of Environmental Health. “But hantavirus can be a danger if infected rodents get indoors and people come into contact with their droppings. People should never sweep up or vacuum rodent droppings or nesting materials when they find them, but use bleach solutions and sponges or mops to carefully clean up instead.”

"The best way to protect against exposure to hantavirus is by keeping rodents out of your homes, garages and outbuildings," said Environmental Health Director Jack Miller. "Hantavirus can become dangerous if infected rodents get indoors and people come into contact with their droppings."

Wild rodents, primarily deer mice, can carry hantavirus and shed it through their saliva, urine and feces. People contract the disease by inhaling dust particles containing the virus from rodent droppings and nesting materials. When the virus becomes airborne and is inhaled, it can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The virus can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a sickness that begins with flu-like symptoms but can lead to lead to severe breathing difficulties and even death in some cases.There is no vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus and the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the disease has killed 36 percent of all the people known to have contracted it. The best way to prevent the disease is to keep mice out of houses, garages and sheds.

...For more information, contact the County Department of Environmental Health at (858) 694-2888 or visit http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov Or click to view: "The Airborne Menace" hantavirus video.