You have noticed some chewed cereal boxes, shredded newspapers, and holes in your sofa coverings. And now you are worried about these strange things. Well! These are the signs describing the presence of mice in your home.
But the real problem begins when you discover the filthy mouse droppings, and you are unaware of their potential health risks and how to clean them.
Keep reading to get your answers.
Despite their cute and innocent look, mice could pose serious health risks to humans. They circulate diseases through their feces, saliva, and urine. And if not treated, these diseases could result in a dead end.
Diseases that spread through mice droppings include:
- Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
- Leptospirosis
- Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis
- Salmonellosis
Inexperienced handling of mice droppings can break the particles freeing the virus into the air where they can be inhaled and can affect the cleaning person. This makes it necessary to understand the complete process for cleaning mice droppings.
The complete article provides a brief knowledge about diseases linked with mice droppings and how to avoid them while handling them.
The next section will discuss various diseases caused by mouse dropping. Then there will be a brief discussion about how to clean mice droppings and approaches you can opt to ban mice entry into your home.
The last part of the article will have a detailed conclusion and frequently asked questions about mice droppings.
What Diseases Can Mouse Droppings Cause?
Like other unsanitary things, mice droppings are also linked with various negative health effects. These droppings transfer diseases through different pathogenic bacteria and viruses they carry.
The four major diseases caused by mice droppings are:
1. Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
The most common disease due to mice droppings is Hantavirus. However, its occurrence is rare but can be deadly.
You can get affected by the disease through:
- Inhaling the air with virus released from mice droppings.
- By coming in direct contact with dropping and touching your face with your hands.
The early symptoms of Hantavirus include fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. According to Centres for diseases control and prevention, affected people may also experience abdominal problems, dizziness, headache, and chills.
After the early symptoms, there could be a short period of relief when you feel better, but then the next batch of symptoms will appear. This will include breathing difficulty, cough, and raspy breaths.
If you are exposed to droppings and can feel these symptoms, an immediate checkup by a doctor is recommended, as these symptoms progress very fast.
2. Leptospirosis
This is a bacterial infection that can affect you or your pet when getting in contact with mice feces. Instead of mice droppings, mice urine is the primary cause of Leptospirosis.
Like tetanus, these pathogens enter the body primarily through abrasions and cut. However, they could also infiltrate through the linings of the eyes, nose, and mouth.
The main symptoms of Leptospirosis include nausea, high fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and conjunctivitis.
3. Salmonellosis
Salmonellosis is commonly known as salmonella poisoning. Individuals eating or drinking food contaminated with mice feces are more vulnerable to this food poisoning.
The symptoms of Salmonellosis include diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. This disease is very common in houses infested with rodents. But luckily, it is very rarely fatal.
4. Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis
Mice are the primary cause of this viral infection. Contact with mice droppings, urine, or saliva can onset the symptoms. Skin cuts, mouth, nose, and eyes are the main entry points of the virus.
The initial symptoms of Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis include vomiting, headache, muscle aching, and nausea. Which eventually can lead to neurological disorders like meningitis if not treated properly.
How To Clean Mice Droppings
Mice dropping needs to be cleaned immediately because, besides their potential health risks, they are nasty and can be the reason for foul smell in your home.
Here are the simple steps to clean mice droppings while avoiding health risks:
- Evacuation: Use every possible means to evacuate the area from mice and ensure no further mice are trapped.
- Ventilation: Ventilate the area and let the fresh air come in to minimize the intensity of contaminated air with particles.
- Use protective gear: Refrain from touching mice dropping without gloves on your hand. Use protective gear like a mask, gloves, and a long shirt for effective precautions. Once you have done this, wash your hands and gear thoroughly with soap.
- Disinfecting the surface area: Once you have removed mice drooping, wash the surface with a disinfectant. For this purpose, make a solution of bleach and water with a ratio of 1:10. Spray this solution on surfaces that cannot be washed.
- Avoid sweeping: Avoid sweeping. Instead, use paper towels to pick up the dropping, put them in a plastic bag and dispose of them.
- Remove mice nests: The final step is removing the mice nests to stop their entry further. Spray the nests with water and bleach solution and wait for 5 minutes. Now place it in a plastic bag, seal it tightly and dispose of it.
Centre for disease control recommends not stirring the mice droppings, urine, and nests as they have small virus-containing droplets that can infuse the air. The process is known as Airborne transmission. Thus vacuuming and sweeping are strongly prohibited while handling mice droppings.
How To Stop Mice Entry Into the House
Though you have all the necessary information to handle mice droppings, but in the first place, it is best to ban their entry completely.
Here are some simple approaches you can practice to dispel away mice:
Sealing Their Entry Points
Mice usually nest houses in winter. Small holes in walls and windows could be their most easy entry points. Fill the holes with steel wool and cover them with duct tape.
Like other materials, mice cannot chew steel wool, so it’s an effective way to completely stop their entry through cracks.
Organize Your Home
Mice gain entry into your home in search of food and shelter. Thus organizing your common households is vital for stopping their nesting.
Place your pet food in lid containers, clean the food leftovers, minimize the use of cardboard boxes, and take out the trash regularly.
Use Repellents
Various natural remedies and pesticides are available that can effectively stop mice entry into your home. However, natural remedies are recommended more as they are safe for kids and pets.
You can use apple cider and hot pepper solutions for the best results.
Conclusion
No doubt the mice droppings are a red flag as the mice are not only filthy, but they can also pose serious health risks. So the best solution to this problem is completely stopping their entry into your home.
But if you have encountered mice feces, go for a thorough check for their droppings, urine, and nests. Then by taking all the above-mentioned precautionary measures, clean them and disinfect the area to curtail any room for mice droppings-borne diseases.
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Identify Mice Droppings?
Mice droppings are small granular structures with lengths ranging from 3-6mm. Their color could be black or brown. They can be located near mice nests.
How Long Are Mice Droppings Dangerous?
The most commonly found virus in mouse droppings is Hantavirus. The average life of Hantavirus outside the host is one week, which is further decreased to one hour if in contact with direct sunlight.
What To Do if You Touch Mice Droppings?
First, It is strongly prohibited not to touch mice droppings with bare hands. But if you touch them, keep your hand away from other body parts and immediately wash your hand and disinfect them.
