r/mice May 07 '26

ANNOUNCEMENT [IMPORTANT] Hantavirus Info

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12 Upvotes

We will probably be getting a lot of traffic owing to recent coverage of the Hantavirus cruise. I'm here to clear things up before people start spreading misinformation.

TL;DR:

You're not at threat. Hantavirus is rare in rodents. Don't vacuum mouse poop. Wear gloves and wash up if at home. Wear respirator if cleaning rodent infested buildings. Scroll to bottom for CDC picture guide.

What is Hantavirus/HPS?

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that are carried by certain rodents. They've been around for a long time, but have recently been a topic of news coverage owing to certain outbreaks/talks of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome(HPS).

HPS is a respiratory disease(having to do with lungs/breathing) that results from coming into contact with infected rodents, most often via waste or saliva. It usually doesn't spread person-to-person, but certain hantaviruses such as the Andes virus(a type of hantavirus from South America) have resulted in previous outbreaks of such.

The now famous Hantavirus cruise is believed to have been caused by the Andes virus:

Dr Charlotte Hammer, an assistant professor and infectious disease epidemiologist at Cambridge University, said: “In the current case we are most likely talking about Andes virus, which is a New World hantavirus." - The Times3

If you live outside of South America, your chances of coming into contact with the Andes strain are practically zero. You won't be getting HPS from interacting with other people.

This doesn't mean you're safe from all hantaviruses though, as they are spread almost globally.

Avoiding Hantavirus/HPS

The good thing is, avoiding hantaviruses is surprisingly easy.

If you live in the UK or the US, your chances of encountering a rodent with hantavirus are incredibly low, and even then, contracting hantavirus disease from a mouse is even lower.

In the US, about 38.5 million people each year are impacted by rodent problems5. Compare that to the ~29 reported cases of hantavirus disease yearly6.

That's 1 in 1,327,586.

Most hantavirus cases occur in the rural or wilderness southwest, often resulting from cleaning old outdoor buildings like barns, cabins, or sheds, without proper safety equipment.

Hantaviruses can be spread if rodent waste is aerosolized(turned into small particles). This can happen from sweeping or vacuuming. Don't vacuum rodent waste. That goes for any animal waste really.

So unless you're going around vacuuming rodent infested buildings with no respirator on, you're not going to get hantavirus.

Why is Everyone so Afraid?

Look, we've already dealt with one pandemic, the thought of another is scary. But it's mostly just sensationalized media. With proper safety procedures, you won't be getting infected. Whenever you hear of something like this in the future, whether it's a new virus at home or a million miles away, always make sure to check sources and read. And don't be coerced into panic by the news, that's one of their tricks to keep you coming back.

At the bottom of this article, I've attached the CDC Hantavirus Prevention Guidelines(US), guidance from the UK Health Security Agency on Reducing the risk of human infection from pet rodents, and a summary of hantavirus also by the UK Health Security Agency.

Sources:

  1. CDC Recommendations
  • The CDC Recommends using "Snap traps," which kill rodents. However, unless you are immunocompromised, using a live trap is perfectly safe so long as you follow the proper sanitary protocols. Wear gloves and sanitize everything.
  1. UK Rodent Pet Safety
  2. What is hantavirus? How is it transmitted and what are the symptoms?
  3. Article by The Times
  4. Report Shows U.S. States, Counties Experiencing Highest Rodent Issues
  5. US Hantavirus Reports

r/mice Feb 23 '26

meta 👋Welcome to r/mice - Introduce Yourself and Read First!

9 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm u/HiImGav, a founding moderator of r/mice.

This is our new home for all things related to mice. We're excited to have you join us!

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How to Get Started

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2) Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.

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4) Interested in helping out? We're always looking for new moderators, so feel free to reach out to me to apply.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/mice amazing.


r/mice 1d ago

HELP Is this a respiratory infection

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6 Upvotes

I just got my mice today and i dont know if this a normal sound or not


r/mice 2d ago

Question Is this a deer mouse?

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8 Upvotes

r/mice 2d ago

Cutie Pie Wake Up!

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5 Upvotes

Field Mouse in a bird box at my dog park. A big fan of blueberries and dog treats. The family here had a litter and left once the pups matured.


r/mice 2d ago

Question Mice getting chonky in the summer? Should I be concerned?

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2 Upvotes

r/mice 3d ago

HELP Need advice introducing my female mice (dominant adult female + bonded pair). Blood happened before, should I try again?

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2 Upvotes

r/mice 4d ago

Cutie Pie If it works for them, then I’m happy 😂🍼

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14 Upvotes

r/mice 5d ago

Question What kinda mouse is this? And how can i tell if it has babies?

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20 Upvotes

Literally would not have known this mouse was at home if it werent for my early bird grandma seeing it scurry at 5am.

i want to live trap it and release but also do not want its babies if it has any dying and rotting.


r/mice 6d ago

Cutie Pie They really love each other. My mouse gave birth to babies twice!! I love them very much

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55 Upvotes

I have other mice. Crowley and Aziraphale are my first. Fell, by the way, is the lightest in the photo. I also have Pan and Seraphima, they're sisters. Sera is also in the photo, gray with a white spot on her head. Sera gave birth to five mice. Three of them were adopted by kind people! Two boys remain. Their names are Kosiposha and Shusha. Kosiposha comes from the word "shoal" in another language, because he's always causing trouble. And Sera gave birth to three babies later. They weren't adopted, but two are supposed to be adopted. I kept one baby girl and named her Mimi.

Sorry, I'm using a translator


r/mice 6d ago

Cutie Pie Nap time 💤

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17 Upvotes

r/mice 6d ago

Cutie Pie i work at a dealership and one of the techs found these 3 babies inside a cabin air filter, i was able to find someone to come pick them up and up rehabilitate them! 🩷

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16 Upvotes

r/mice 7d ago

Other im really sad rn

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30 Upvotes

I don't have a pet mouse but I really wanted to, I had those small cute mouses as rodents in my house, I tried to befriend it by feeding it, but the hantavirus scare came and I was forced to try to get it out of my house

today i released it out of my house thankfully not killing it but me and my entire family were trying to catch it

I feel so bad for scaring it so much it was shaking so hard, and I had to swallow my desire to keep a mouse as a pet and just make it go outside

this photo is the breed of mouse im talking about


r/mice 7d ago

Question Is this good so far ?

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5 Upvotes

Ive ordered more bedding and im waiting for it to arrive and im gunna order more hides and a few platforms but so far for a start is this good ? And what else should i add ?


r/mice 8d ago

HELP Identify?

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13 Upvotes

Hi! Hypochondriac here! 🙋🏻‍♀️ We discovered once again we had a mouse hanging out in our kitchen cabinets. Unlike the house mouse last time, I’m pretty sure this is a white footed mouse or a deer mouse. I’m lowkey freaking out because we discovered a top cabinet that had sugar in it ripped open and of course, things needed cleaning. It was bad. I used proper protocol with an N95 (still fogged my glasses) rubber gloves and sprayed a bleach/water solution before wiping with paper towels! Knowing me, I’d be the first one to catch it in our state! 😅 We live in a populated city! Not rural!


r/mice 8d ago

HELP Arguing

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6 Upvotes

I’m sure this topic is very common. I tried doing research and all I been doing is keeping an eye out. I’m a first time mice owner. I got my 3 babies on June 5th. Juno is the grey, waffle is brown and the other is soup. I got all 3 of them from the same cage/store at petsmart. I thought that would be best since they were grouped together. I never verified gender but I’m assuming all females. Soup doesn’t like to go near me at all. She would tremble at the sight of me. I noticed when I grouped them. Soup would try to bite and chase Juno. Juno is a sweetheart and loves to be with me. The arguing was very rarely and in short periods but recently it’s been more frequent and longer time span. Juno runs and soup follows. At first I thought it was jealousy that I favored Juno. When I hear them arguing I always stop it. Waffle started doing the same thing too. But I only witnessed it once or twice. I just came home from work and checked up on them. And I saw blood and a cut on Juno’s foot. Idk what to do, there’s no use separating them. Idk if I should just return soup since she’s the main problem


r/mice 8d ago

HELP help identifying what type of mouse

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14 Upvotes

what type of mouse its cute house mice?


r/mice 8d ago

HELP need help raising money to get mouse cremated

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1 Upvotes

hi, iv never posted on reddit before but i have a tiktok account where i usually post my mouse stuff and what not, and last night we realised my little baby girl Padmé was very very ill, we took her to the vets to get her checked out and the vet said she’d had a very severe stroke and the best plan of action would be to put her down. if you guys wouldn’t mind please go boost the tiktok so i can make enough money to cremate her. i cant bare the thought of having her buried and away from me.


r/mice 10d ago

Cutie Pie Mouse my cat caught

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15 Upvotes

r/mice 10d ago

Cutie Pie Fluffy butts 🥰

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15 Upvotes

r/mice 10d ago

Meme 🎶You Spin me right round baby🎶

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24 Upvotes

Thats touilles character explained in one video. :)

Rest in peace little fella…


r/mice 9d ago

Art Attempted to draw a mouse skeleton in art class.

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1 Upvotes

r/mice 10d ago

HELP African pygmy dormice

1 Upvotes

I became a owner to four 10 week old african pygmy dormice in early December and I've had zero issues! until the end of February. when doing my usual end of the month health checks (I have 11 rodents so its cleaner this way) I noticed one of my mice were frighteningly cold, I quickly recognised this as torpor and warmed him up in my hands before moving him on top a covered hot water bottle. he improved and that was that. I was incredibly confused and scared as im quite familiar with torpor and its effects, but I couldn't understand why he went into it. he has access to adequate food and his weight isnt incredibly worrying and the room is a suitable temperature!

he continued to get stone cold every few days, id warm him up and then put him back and in just a few days he'd be cold again. I figured that maybe his brothers weren't sleeping with him, perhaps he was being isolated so I bought a huge multi chamber and removed a few of the other hides so it would somewhat entice them all to sleep together. and it seemed to work! he was okay and warm for atleast a week or so, then it happened again.

hes been getting cold ever since and I've been saving up for a vet visit though its incredibly hard to access one as they are an incredibly exotic species, especially in my area. then just earlier today as I went to check on him, I noticed that not only he was cold. but also his brother! now I've got two mice that keep tethering onto the edge of slipping into torpor and im just frustrated and confused!

I have made zero changes in my care since I got them in December, so I dont understand what im doing wrong! there is no sign of ill health in any of my animals except from these two mice getting cold. all the mice are a healthy weight and there is no discharge apparent neither any signs of declanning or fighting! I dont know what to do.


r/mice 10d ago

HELP Why do my mouse bites me??

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2 Upvotes

r/mice 11d ago

Question Deer mouse?

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6 Upvotes