I wasn’t going to do it, but since it’s hit the headlines, and there’s been plenty of …. dubious info….let’s science this, pest control style.
Hantavirus.
First, hantaviruses are a family of viruses (35 of them) that cause diseases like hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which can be potentially deadly and cause people to get sick. The pest control tie in: it’s spread by rodents. Mostly Peromyscus species mice. You know them better as deer mice or white footed mice. There are also some other cool species of Peromyscus like Dickey’s deer mouse, beach mouse, transvolcanic deer mouse, and the blackish deer mouse.
While deer mice are the most common vectors of hantaviruses, many species can carry it and potentially transmit it to people. Of course, there are plenty of other diseases spread by our commensal species.
One of the biggest statistics to be aware of is that there is a 38% mortality rate when people develop respiratory symptoms from hantavirus. Like most diseases, it starts out with flu like symptoms. It takes just 4-10 days for serious symptoms to emerge, like the lungs filling with fluid.
From one source:
“Early symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, shortness of breath (dyspnea), and low platelet count (thrombocytopenia). During the cardiopulmonary phase, there is an elevated heart rate (tachycardia), irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), and cardiogenic shock. Pulmonary capillary leakage can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, buildup of fluids in the lungs (pulmonary edema), hypotension, and buildup of fluid in the chest cavity (pleural effusion). These symptoms can cause sudden death. After the cardiopulmonary phase is resolved, polyuria occurs while recovery takes months.”
HPS is relatively new in the US and has only been tracked by the CDC since an outbreak in 1993. Since 2022, there have been 864 cases reported. The majority of these cases are in the western half of the country with high levels in CA, WA, AZ, CO, and NM.
So how does it get from the mice to people? Great question; thanks for asking. People inhale droplets or dusts of rodent urine, feces, and saliva. You are basically breathing in all the crap they have left behind. Or potentially eating it in your food. Hantavirus can survive for 10-18 days from the time they were “deposited” to being breathed in by a person. Imagine an old shed that deer mice have been living in. They’ve been peeing all over it and dropping shit. A person goes in, stirs up that urine/feces dust by walking through it, and inhales it. It gets into the lungs and spreads from there.
The good news: it’s not spread person to person.
Back to pest control. The best way not to get HPS is to not have rodents. Most of us know that’s a hard thing to accomplish. Along with reducing food sources, eliminating habitat, and sealing all entrances, there are more lethal ways of dealing with nearby rodents. If there is already an inside infestation, cleaning up the site needs to be done carefully. The CDC has great cleanup info here. Wear all possible PPE, including coveralls, eye protection, and respirators. Strip down and wash before eating, drinking, smoking, or anything else that brings any part of your body towards your… openings.
Bottom line, two people recently died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Prevention is the best option because once it takes hold, the outcome isn’t pretty. Rodent control is essential for the protection of public health. If you want an independent assessment of your rodent control programs, training on rodents, or any other info, contact us. We can help.
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