{"id":665375,"date":"2026-05-12T22:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/665375\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:46:15","slug":"spring-cleaning-your-home-or-cottage-how-to-limit-hantavirus-risk-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/665375\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring cleaning your home or cottage? How to limit hantavirus risk – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

If your long weekend plans include opening the cottage or spring cleaning<\/a> around your home or shed, it might be prudent to take some precautions to prevent the spread of hantavirus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In North America, five rodents are known to carry hantaviruses \u2014 the deer mouse, cotton rat, rice rat, white-footed mouse and red-backed vole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey 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\u2019s cold. They try to come to a warmer location,\u201d said Veasna Duong, senior investigator at the pandemic emergency readiness lab at McGill University.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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However, experts are also reminding the public that the risk of transmission from the Andes strain \u2014 the one connected with the recent outbreak \u2014 is quite low for Canadians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d said Dr. Fahad Razak, internal medicine physician at St. Michael\u2019s Hospital and professor at the University of Toronto.<\/p>\n

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However, certain precautions, such as preventing the aerosolization of rodent droppings so you don\u2019t breathe them in, are good best practices, he added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s when it can become a powder, go into the air and that\u2019s how hantavirus spreads,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWhat steps can you take to limit hantavirus risk?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Health Canada recommends not sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings but using liquid cleaners like bleach instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweeping 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,\u201d Razak said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Wipe up wet droppings with paper towels or a wet mop if dealing with a large area, Health Canada says.<\/p>\n

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If a wet mop was used to clean the area, use disinfectant and hot soapy water to clean the mop, the agency adds.<\/p>\n

It is also important to block openings that might let rodents in, Razak said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRodents 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rodents may try to enter your home or cottage in search of food, so it is important to secure your food containers, Duong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a very good food container for humans, but also for pets. Because often we are a bit more careless with pet food,\u201d he said, adding that it helps to use air-tight food containers for leftovers.<\/p>\n

The virus\u2019s worst enemy is sunlight, Duong said, which is why it can stay for a while in places like attics, which don\u2019t see sunlight for long periods.<\/p>\n

If possible, expose tight and confined spaces to as much sunlight as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virus cannot survive for a long time under sunlight. UV will kill the virus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStay away from rodents: Canada\u2019s top doctor offers guidance on hantavirus precautions\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

However, the \u201coverall risk to the general population in connection with this outbreak of the hantavirus is low,\u201d Reimer said at a press conference on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a new COVID,\u201d Razak added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only one strain of the hantavirus that is known to spread between humans. That is the Andes strain, which is what\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Canada published its last update on the rapid risk assessment of hantavirus<\/a> on Friday, which said, \u201conward spread within Canada is not expected, even if an infected individual were to arrive in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If your long weekend plans include opening the cottage or spring cleaning around your home or shed, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,1849,241672,43,84,245579,44,217120,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-665375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-canada","tag-consumer","tag-hantavirus","tag-headlines","tag-health","tag-may-long-weekend","tag-news","tag-spring-cleaning","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}