Special Precautions for Homes of Persons with Confirmed
Hantavirus Infection or Buildings with Heavy Rodent Infestations
Special precautions should be used for cleaning homes or buildings with heavy rodent
infestations in areas where HPS has been reported. If you are attempting to deal with such
an infestation, it is recommended that you contact the responsible local, state, or
federal public health agency for guidance.
The special precautions may also apply to vacant dwellings that have attracted numbers
of rodents while unoccupied and to dwellings and other structures that have been occupied
by persons with confirmed hantavirus infection.
Workers who are either hired specifically to perform the clean-up or asked to do so as
part of their work activities should receive a thorough orientation from the responsible
health agency about hantavirus transmission and should be trained to perform the required
activities safely.
Precautions To Be Used:.
- Personal protective gear should be decontaminated upon removal
at the end of the day. If the coveralls are not disposable, they
should be laundered on site. If no laundry facilities are available,
the coveralls should be immersed in liquid disinfectant until
they can be washed.
- All potentially infective waste material (including respirator
filters) from clean-up operations that cannot be burned or deep
buried on site should be double bagged in appropriate plastic
bags. The bagged material should then be labeled as infectious
(if it is to be transported) and disposed of in accordance with
local requirements for infectious waste.
- Workers who develop symptoms suggestive of HPS within 45 days
of the last potential exposure should immediately seek medical
attention. The physician should contact local health authorities
promptly if hantavirus-associated illness is suspected. A blood
sample should be obtained and forwarded through the state health
department to CDC for hantavirus antibody testing.
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This page last reviewed Thursday, June 10, 2004
Special Pathogens Branch
Division of Viral andThursday, July 8, 2004br>
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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