Baby wild mouse -taming and hantavirus

Question
Hello! Two days ago, my friend and i found a baby mouse on her back porch. He wasn't moving and was freezing cold, however we managed to slowly nurse him back to health. He is now doing fine, and he has his own cage which we keep in a somewhat dimmer corner of the room, but move into the sunlight every so often to give him a change of pace. We were reading about various different parasites a young wild mouse could have, when we came across articles about hantavirus. We are very worried that taking care of this baby could mean death for us both, and even though we love him and he is surprisingly calm around humans, we will have to release him if there is a high chance of us catching the disease. We are willing to have him tested for it if there is a way which you know of to find out if he has it or not.

I was also wondering how to make him more comfortable in his surroundings? He loves to crawl around on my hands and into my pockets and sleeves, but as soon as he hits the ground, survival mode seems to kick in, and he starts to make a run for the nearest corner or crack he can find. He also gets very jumpy and nippy at this time, and i can tell it stresses him out. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable? He is still very small, about the size of a thumb. His ears and eyes are open, and he is eating oats as well as some very small seeds on his own. His back is grey and his belly is white, and his tail is not too long, and the colors are more blended than separate, which leads me to believe he is a white footed and not a deer mouse. We live in the Midwest, if this helps you with any information on the hantavirus question.

Thanks so much, and any other tips you could give us would be loved!

Answer
Dear Rachel,

The answer I wrote to this person will help you with the question of hantavirus, except for one thing- it has been suggested to me that the test for hantavirus is generally done on a dead mouse, and I don't know if it can be done on a live one.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2012/4/keep-wild-field-mouse.htm

Thus you have to assess your own chances; however, it is far less likely than you have been worrying about.

As to the jumpiness, if this little guy has its eyes open it probably just opened them a few days ago. Even the best socialized mouse will be terrified and jumpy when it first sees the terribly scary world. In the following post I explain how to hold a jumpy mouse and give steps for how to tame a generally scared mouse. You will pick and choose which steps your mouse needs.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2011/7/frightened-mouse.htm

I think it will become a very good pet. Let me know!

Squeaks n giggles,

Natasha