How to Get Rid of Pest Mice FOR BEGINNERS: Hantavirus

Mice can be classified amongst the deadliest disease carrying animals in the world, along with mosquitoes, cockroaches and parasites. Within this league of infamous disease communicating vessels, mice are perhaps the most destructive of them all as not only do they risk your health under the verge of destruction but your properties as well beneath dilapidation. Mice are considered to be one of the most pestering pest in the world for each time they strike, they will most likely leave traces of havoc everywhere, gnawing damages in electrical wirings, hole punctures on walls, torn parchments in cloth covered items and many more. This is the reason why a lot of household owners are immediately appalled once they have come to discover that there is a mice infestation taking place inside their houses. More of than not, they will come to seek and call for professional help to exterminate the vermin once and for all.

Transmission electron micrograph of the Hantavirus

However, if that is an immediate option then it would be wise to prepare an ample amount of money to hire the professional services of exterminators for they would definitely cost quite a fortune. Services would range from 60 – 200 USD depending on how severe the infestation is inside a house. On top of that are the hassles of schedule fumigation routines that would last a month long. Thankfully, there are ways in which you can do the vermin extermination yourself and would definitely save you a lot of money rather spent on hiring professional services. However, the DIY process entails a considerable amount of preparation for it to become efficiently successful. Naturally, it would also entail a certain amount of expenses to incur but rest assured it would not be as expensive as hiring professional services. Even so, still you have to prepare ahead of time so as not to fall short in preparation when the occasion rises.

How Dangerous These Vermin Are

Mice are very prominent notorious disease carrying animals. In the United States of America, they are known to be the notorious perpetrators of the "Four Corners Disease" that struck an epidemic outbreak in the places Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. A specific type of mice are said to be the prime carrier of the Hantaviruses that caused the mortality of 58 people during the outbreak. The symptoms it manifests are similar to influenza at the initial stages but would later on develop into something much more severe than regular influenza flu. The victim would internally suffer from internal haemorrhages until the lung breaks down into an acute respiratory distress syndrome which is often the immediate cause of death to the victims. Deer mice are said to be the primary types of mice that carry such virus and thus, the disease. As of today, the disease carrying type of mice is scattered all over the 50 states posing an impending great threat to the people. In the light of this appalling incident, the government immediately took counter measure to combat the spread of the disease through implement residential maintenance protocols that are ought to be followed at all times. However, there are still some residences that choose to neglect the safety precautions promulgated by the government and condone the existence of pest mice in their places. Pest mice control is not often followed by a handful number of people in the US and thus, the continuing deaths related to the disease carried by the deer mice.

On top of that misfortunate truth is the fact that third world countries across the globe do not have sufficient protocols to deter the spread of the disease as there are not enough resources to fund such wide scale preventive measure. More often than not, the most affected areas are those highly destitute urban areas because of their lack of hygiene and cleanliness in the surrounding. This often leads to the breeding and habitation of pest mice in the local area thus turning their dwellings as highly susceptible places for the propagation of the disease carried by the pest vessels.

How the Disease Can Be Easily Communicated Through Pest Mice

Unlike a mosquito, that intravenously communicates the disease through their bites, pest mice have a different modus operandi in imparting the disease to a living human. The host shed the virus that they carry through any waste or metabolic by-product. That means that any amounts of saliva, urine or faeces coming from these animals could potentially have traces of the virus in it. The virus could thrive within the by-products for many months and or even as long as the animal's lifetime. Human infection can take place once the dust containing specks or particles from a dried rodent excretion is inhaled. As the virus is airborne, all people within the area of infestation are at risk of getting exposed to the disease.

Now, if you take into consideration the kind of situation that third world impoverished areas would look like, i.e. unhygienic, unsanitary and heavily infested with pests, you can now deduce how easily the virus can contaminate the surrounding and communicating itself from one human host to another. It is sheer luck that there are still certain impoverish areas in some third world countries that are still not infected by the disease. For those that were affected, they still continue to suffer from the disaster that the virus has caused.

As of now, there are different known variations of Hantavirus. Among the most prominent are the Sin Nombre of the "no name" virus and the Hantaan Virus which is the primary virus that caused the hemorrhagic fever breakout in 1950 in Korea and it neighbouring countries. It wasn't until 26 years later that they discovered the virus by isolating field mice.

Prevention

As of today there are more than a dozen new innovations on how to deal with pest mice control issues. You can just conveniently pick any of them depending on whatever will suit your preferences in getting rid of them. Ultimately, in order to prevent the possibility of transmitting the virus, one should find all means necessary to prevent rodent habitation in or near human residences or dwellings. Mice droppings should be wetted down first and disinfected before they are swept away.

In dealing with pest mice issue per se, you can make use of one or both methods. These methods are attracting and repelling. Attracting requires an entrapment procedure and would typically need bait in order to catch the mouse. The mouse is then either killed or thrown away to a far place. Repelling employs devices that deter mice from entering the household. One example of a mice repelling device is an ultrasound emitting device which emits high frequency sound waves that jam and overdrive mice sense of hearing making them less interested in entering the residence. Domesticating a cat is theoretically another means to prevent the intrusion of pest mice in the house. However, such method is still highly hypothetical as a cat's effectiveness in preventing mice intrusion may vary from time to time. There is also the usage of poisons to exterminate mice. However, such method should only be a last resort as mice carcass can often be an appealing invitation to a dozen more pests inside the house.