Local Health Officials Warn About Deadly Rodent Virus

Local health officials are warning residents to be extra careful with cleaning after a mouse trapped in North County tested positive for the potentially deadly hantavirus disease.

The mouse trapped in Pala Mesa near Old Highway 395 was the sixth mouse that’s tested positive for hantavirus in the county this year, San Diego County health officials said Wednesday.

Residents can contract hantavirus, a group of viruses that infect rodents and can be deadly to humans, when cleaning or sweeping where infected mice have nested.

People can contract hantavirus by inhaling infected rodent droppings.

Here’s how you can protect yourself, according to San Diego health officials:

  • Seal up all external holes in homes, garages and sheds larger than a dime to keep rodents from getting in.
  • Eliminate rodent infestations immediately.
  • Avoid rodent-infested areas and don’t stir up dust or materials that may be contaminated with rodent droppings and urine.
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