Prevention, rodent control keys to battling hantavirus

State health officials remind Coloradans to take steps to avoid hantavirus. There has been one confirmed case of the disease in the state this year, and the patient is recovering.

Hantavirus is a rare but serious and potentially fatal respiratory disease primarily carried by deer mice. People become infected by breathing in dirt and dust contaminated with rodent urine, droppings or saliva. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has documented more than 106 cases of hantavirus across the state since it began tracking the disease in 1993. Approximately one out of every three people who get hantavirus die from it.

Coloradans are most likely to get hantavirus when they are exposed to deer mouse urine and feces in and around their homes. More people contract hantavirus in the spring and summer, often while cleaning up homes, yards and outbuildings.

“You can identify deer mice by their large ears and eyes and white undersides,” said Dr. Jennifer House, state public health veterinarian. “If you see them around your home, assume there is some risk of exposure to this virus.”
 

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