Canada Warns Spring Cleaners of Hantavirus Risk, Advises 30-Minute Air-Out

5 articles · Updated · CBC Sports · May 12

Canadian health officials urged people cleaning sheds, cabins, garages and cottages to guard against hantavirus, saying infection can occur when dried rodent droppings, urine or saliva are stirred into the air.
PHAC and provincial experts said the highest risk is in enclosed or long-unused spaces where mice may have nested, especially in rural and wooded areas frequented by deer mice, white-footed mice and red-backed voles.
30 minutes is the minimum time residents should air out a contaminated space before cleaning; officials also recommend rubber gloves, a HEPA-filtered mask, and disinfecting droppings with bleach diluted 1-to-9 rather than sweeping or vacuuming.
The warning comes after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, though officials said the North American strain is not known to spread from person to person.

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