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 by inhaling respirable droplets of saliva or urine, or the dust of feces from infected wild rodents, especially the deer mouse. Transmission can also occur when contaminated material gets into broken skin or ingested from contaminated food or water.

Hantavirus is extremely serious since 50-60% of the people who are infected die. It begins with flu-like symptoms: fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath. The disease progresses rapidly. Infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure, and their lungs fill with fluid. Fatal respiratory failure can occur within a few days of the initial symptoms.

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

• Sweeping out a barn or other ranch buildings
• Trapping and studying mice
• Using compressed air or dry sweeping to clean up wood waste in a sawmill
• Handling grain contaminated with the droppings and urine of infected mice
• Entering a barn that is infested with infected 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

How to prevent Hantavirus infection

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. A disposable HEPA mask should be used for general clean-up activities, but cleanup of heavy accumulations of rodent droppings requires the use of 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 (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 guidelines which cover a variety of workplace situations. To find out if there are infected rodents in your area or to obtain more information about risk assessment and precautions for specific situations not clearly addressed by existing guidelines, it will probably be worthwhile to contact your local public health office.

A hantavirus risk control program for employers and workers

        http://www.wcb.bc.ca/resmat/pubs/hanta.htm

HANTAVIRUS
Technical Information Area: Prevention Information

        http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/textonly/prev.htm

CCOHS also has prepared OSH Answers on this topic