Homeowners in Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni need to be aware of Hantavirus and the dangerous bacteria left behind by rats and mice.
Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents and is contained in their droppings. Recently, a 27-year old mother from New Mexico died from this rare, rodent-borne disease.
Extreme caution must be taken if you decide to vacuum or sweep up the feces from rats and mice yourself. Disturbing the droppings aerosolizes the virions, making it possible for you to breathe them in and possibly become infected.
Leave the cleaning to the experts at Pacific Decontamination Services.
Hantavirus is usually spread through contact with rodents—such as the deer mice, cotton rats, rice rats the white-footed mouse—and is usually transmitted to humans when they are bitten or encounter fresh rodent droppings.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory disease in humans caused by infection with hantaviruses.
Anyone who encounters rodents that carry hantaviruses is at risk of HPS. Rodent infestation in and around the home remains the primary risk for hantavirus exposure. Even healthy individuals are at risk for HPS infection if exposed to the virus.
The virus can lead to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which causes coughing and shortness of breath as fluid builds up in the lungs. The transmission of hantavirus to humans does occur, with 728 reported cases in the United States as of January 2017. The virus can be fatal and has a mortality rate of 38 percent.
Transfer from person to person: To date, no cases of HPS have been reported in Victoria, Duncan, Cowichan Valley, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Comox or Campbell River in which the virus was transmitted from one person to another. In fact, in a study of healthcare workers who were exposed to either patients or specimens infected with related types of hantaviruses (which cause a different disease in humans), none of the workers showed evidence of infection or illness.
Who can help?
We hope you won’t ever find yourself requiring decontamination and HEPA cleaning, but, if you do, reach out to Pacific Decontamination Services at 778-269-0208 and talk to us.
We decontaminate, then clean the affected area with our HEPA vacuuming services which include crawl spaces, basements, attics, vehicles, and any other areas of contamination including carpets.
HEPA is an acronym for “high-efficiency particulate air.” HEPA is a type of filter that can trap a large amount of very small particles that other vacuum cleaners would simply recirculate back into the air of your home.
Our HEPA filters remove 99.97% of even the worst of rodent feces, mold spores, pet hair and dust particles, 0.3 microns in size or larger, thus improving your indoor air quality.
Efficient, detailed vacuuming removes these stored contaminants so that they do not recirculate back into the air you breathe.
Not only will we neutralize all dangerous bacteria, but we will also help you root problem solve your rodent problem without having to subscribe to a monthly pest control service.
Pacific Decontamination Services uses the world’s strongest, most effective and safe antimicrobial disinfectant, deodorization and chemical decontaminate. Our professional application will eliminate up to 99.99999% of any allergen, germ, bacteria or fungus that it touches. AND as powerful as it is, it is also completely safe.
Serving All of Vancouver Island: Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
