Deer mouse virus symptoms

Drink disinfected water. When camping, sleep on a ground cover and pad. Keep your home clean. Clear out potential nesting sites and clean your kitchen. If you must work in an area where contact with rodent urine or feces is possible, follow these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC : When opening an unused cabin, shed, or other building, open all the doors and windows, leave the building, and allow the space to air out for 30 minutes.

Return to the building and spray the surfaces, carpet, and other areas with a disinfectant. Leave the building for another 30 minutes. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. Using rubber gloves, place the materials in plastic bags. Seal the bags and throw them in the trash or an incinerator. Dispose of gloves and cleaning materials in the same way. Wash all potentially contaminated hard surfaces with a bleach or disinfectant solution.

Avoid vacuuming until the area has been thoroughly decontaminated. Then, vacuum the first few times with enough ventilation. Surgical masks may provide some protection. If you have a heavy infestation of rodents, call a pest control company. They have special cleanup equipment and methods. Alternative Names. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Hanta virus Respiratory system overview. Section Navigation.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Early Symptoms Early symptoms include fatigue, fever and muscle aches, especially in the large muscle groups—thighs, hips, back, and sometimes shoulders. Is the Disease Fatal? HPS can be fatal. As the disease progresses, it can lead to damaged lung tissues, fluid build-up in the lungs, and serious problems with lung and heart function.

Signs and symptoms may include:. The signs and symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome can worsen suddenly and may quickly become life-threatening. If you have flu-like symptoms that progressively worsen over a few days, see your health care provider.

Get immediate medical care if you have trouble breathing. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a human disease found only in North and South America.

Each strain of the hantavirus has a preferred rodent carrier. The deer mouse is the most common carrier of the virus in North America and Central America. In the United States, most of the infections occur in the states west of the Mississippi River. Other carriers in North America include the rice rat and cotton rat in the Southeast and the white-footed mouse in the Northeast. Rodent carriers in South America include the rice rat and the vesper mouse. The virus is present in the rodent's urine, feces or saliva.

You can come in contact with the virus in the following ways:. Person-to-person transmission of the virus has only been recorded with a strain of the virus found in South America called the Andes virus. When hantaviruses reach the lungs, they invade tiny blood vessels called capillaries, eventually causing them to leak.

Your lungs fill with fluid pulmonary edema , resulting in severe dysfunction of the lungs and heart. Another disease caused by different strains of the hantavirus is called hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, which causes severe kidney disease.

These variants of the virus have other animal carriers in Africa, Asia and Europe. In the United States, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is most common in rural areas of the West. However, any exposure to rodent habitats can increase the risk of disease.