If your long weekend plans include opening the cottage or spring cleaning around your home or shed, it might be prudent to take some precautions to prevent the spread of hantavirus.
The overall risk in Canada to the general population from the Andes hantavirus outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship remains low, Health Canada says.
While the Andes strain is the only one that can spread from human to human, other kinds of hantavirus strains can spread if you inhale virus particles from rodent urine, droppings or saliva that have been released into the air.
In North America, five rodents are known to carry hantaviruses — the deer mouse, cotton rat, rice rat, white-footed mouse and red-backed vole.
“They live in grasslands, bushy woods, and sometimes in forests. But sometimes they do come to find shelter in human structures, like houses, cabins, cottages or attics in the winter period when it’s cold. They try to come to a warmer location,” said Veasna Duong, senior investigator at the pandemic emergency readiness lab at McGill University.
This means cottagers or homeowners who are cleaning a tight space after a long, cold winter could come into contact with the rodents that might carry strains of hantavirus.
However, experts are also reminding the public that the risk of transmission from the Andes strain — the one connected with the recent outbreak — is quite low for Canadians.
“This outbreak of the specific Andes strain of the hantavirus does not change the general risk for Canadians doing the things that they always do, like spring cleaning or opening up cottages,” said Dr. Fahad Razak, internal medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and professor at the University of Toronto.
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However, certain precautions, such as preventing the aerosolization of rodent droppings so you don’t breathe them in, are good best practices, he added.
“That’s when it can become a powder, go into the air and that’s how hantavirus spreads,” he said.
Health Canada recommends not sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings but using liquid cleaners like bleach instead.
“Sweeping up or vacuuming waste is not as good a solution as wetting it down by using a bleach solution or household disinfectant, letting it soak for 10 minutes and then wiping it up with a towel and then disposing of the towel,” Razak said.
Wearing a good mask, like the N95, and a pair of rubber or plastic gloves is also recommended when cleaning confined spaces where you might suspect rodent movement, he added.
Wipe up wet droppings with paper towels or a wet mop if dealing with a large area, Health Canada says.
If a wet mop was used to clean the area, use disinfectant and hot soapy water to clean the mop, the agency adds.
It is also important to block openings that might let rodents in, Razak said.
“Rodents are very common in Canada, especially in cottage country and other areas. Think about preventing the exposure in the first place by plugging up holes, reducing the things that draw them in, like open water, open food, and then eradicating if you do have a problem,” he said.
Rodents may try to enter your home or cottage in search of food, so it is important to secure your food containers, Duong said.
“Have a very good food container for humans, but also for pets. Because often we are a bit more careless with pet food,” he said, adding that it helps to use air-tight food containers for leftovers.
The virus’s worst enemy is sunlight, Duong said, which is why it can stay for a while in places like attics, which don’t see sunlight for long periods.
If possible, expose tight and confined spaces to as much sunlight as possible.
“The virus cannot survive for a long time under sunlight. UV will kill the virus,” he said.
If you have an open wound on your hands, it could help to clean and cover it before you start cleaning a space like that, he added.
However, the “overall risk to the general population in connection with this outbreak of the hantavirus is low,” Reimer said at a press conference on Friday.
“This is not a new COVID,” Razak added.
“There’s only one strain of the hantavirus that is known to spread between humans. That is the Andes strain, which is what’s caused this outbreak. Even then, the spread is limited, to the best of our understanding, to a very particular circumstance of prolonged close exposure, like what would occur on a cruise ship.”
Health Canada published its last update on the rapid risk assessment of hantavirus on Friday, which said, “onward spread within Canada is not expected, even if an infected individual were to arrive in Canada.”
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