Hantavirus is a virus that is found in the urine, saliva, or droppings of infected deer mice and some other wild rodents. It causes a rare but serious lung disease called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).

People can contract the Hantavirus infection through inhalation of respirable droplets of saliva or urine, or through the dust of feces from infected wild rodents, especially the deer mouse. Transmission can also occur when contaminated material gets into broken skin, or possibly, ingested in contaminated food or water. Person-to-person transmission in North America has not been reported. A recent outbreak of 18 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in South America strongly suggests person-to-person transmission. However, the viruses isolated in South America are genetically distinct from those described in North America.

The disease caused by Hantavirus is called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. This disease is extremely serious since 50-60% of the people who get the disease die. The disease begins as a flu-like illness. In the early stage, a worker may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath. However, the disease progresses rapidly and infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure and their lungs will fill with fluid. Severe respiratory failure, resulting in death, can occur within a few days of the early stage symptoms.

Cases of Hantavirus infection contracted in Canada and the United States have been associated with:

• Sweeping out a barn and other ranch buildings
• Trapping and studying mice
• Using compressed air and dry sweeping to clean up wood waste in a sawmill
• Handling grain contaminated with mouse droppings and urine
• Entering a barn infested with mice
• Planting or harvesting field crops
• Occupying previously vacant dwellings
• Disturbing rodent-infested areas while hiking or camping
• Living in dwellings with a sizable indoor rodent population

Since human infection occurs through inhalation of contaminated material, clean-up procedures must be performed in a way that limits the amount of airborne dust. People involved in the clean-up should wear rubber gloves, rubber boots and respiratory protective equipment that is equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. Workers involved with general clean-up activities where there are not heavy accumulation of droppings should use a disposable HEPA mask. For cleaning up rodent contaminated areas with heavy accumulations of droppings it is necessary to use powered air-purifying (PARP) or air-supplied respirators.

Dead mice, nests and droppings should be soaked thoroughly with a 1:10 solution of sodium hypochlorite (household bleach). The contaminated material should be placed in a plastic bag and disposed of by burning or burying. Gloves and other equipment used in the cleaning process should be disposed of in the same manner as other contaminated material. Please contact your local environmental authorities concerning approved disposal methods.

Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water after removing the gloves.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia have prepared interim guidelines which cover a variety of workplace situations. For more details on risk assessment and precautions for specific situations not clearly addressed by existing guidelines, it will probably be worthwhile to contact specific agencies responsible for such detailed information, for example, your local public health office.