hantavirus from wild mice?

Question
QUESTION: We are into day 4 of caring for an orphaned baby mouse.  We think it was only a day old when we found it.  It hasn't gained any weight and is dehydrated.  We have been feeding it kitten replacement formula for the past two days.  We were hoping that after we started feeding it properly, it would gain weight.  Unfortunately, this hasn't happened.  Is there anything else we can try?  We've been stimulating him to go to the bathroom and he is doing well with that.  Thanks for any suggestions you can give us.

ANSWER: Dear Bonnie,

One thing to do is call around to local pet stores to see if they have nursing mothers who might take the mouse in.  Let them know if you want it  back when it is weaned.

Are you feeding the mouse with a syringe?  Are you sure it is feeding until it is full?  You should be able to see its tummy full of milk when it is full.  Perhaps you are not feeding it often enough.  Every 2-3 hours is a minimum:  The mom feeds them every half hour!  Hold it by the 'scruff of its neck'-- that is, the loose skin just behind its head.  Give it one drop at a time and wait a few seconds till it swallows before giving another.  Give it as much as it will eat.  Feed it until it doesn't want to eat anymore.  It is also important to ever so gently massage its tummy after feedings to get its digestive system working (Mom licks them thoroughly and constantly).  

Although many people are successful with a kitten formula, one source I know suggests using infant rehydration formulas such as Pedialyte, Infalyte, or Rehydralyte.  Another idea would be to also give it a little butter to lick from your finger, if it will do so.  

Best of luck!

squeaks,

Natasha

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your suggestions.  Unfortunately, the little guy died yesterday.  We think it was getting too much air in his little belly because we didn't have the proper equipment to feed him with.  He was very sweet and such a fighter.

After he died, we began thinking about the possibility of the hantavirus and whether or not we have been exposed.  Do you know anything about the virus?  Is there a diagnostic test we can take to find out if we have contracted it?

Thanks for all you do to help those who can't help themselves.  Keep up the good work.

Answer
Dear Bonnie,

I did a little bit of research on the hantavirus.  In the Northern parts of North America, white footed mice and deer mice, both of whom have white underbellies and feet, can carry the virus.  Farther South, the cotton rat and the rice rat are also a problem.  If your mouse had a white underbelly,  it was probably a deer mouse (depending on where you live).  In Africa, the carriers are African wood mice.

The virus can be transmitted through the air from the dried urine and feces of an infected mouse or from contact with the mouse itself. The virus takes 2-4 weeks to incubate.

Though the incidence of Hantavirus is very small, it can be deadly. The mortality rate for the illness caused by the hantavirus has been an average of 30% since 1994.  Children seem to be almost immune to it.

The United States outbreak was in 1993.  It was in the Southwestern states.  Since then there have been incidences in New Mexico (69), Colorado (49), Arizona (46), California (43), Texas (33), and Washington (30), Montana (25), Idaho (19), and Utah (24), Oregon (7).  That's an average of 23 cases per year.  Just to compare, a person is far more likely to get hit by lightning or drown in a bathtub:

The population of the U.S. is over 300,000,000.  The chance of getting hit by lightning in your entire lifetime is one in 3000, or approximately 1 person in 100,000.  The chance of getting the hantavirus is 23/300,000,000, or 1 in 13,000,000.  That makes you 130 times more likely to get hit by lightning then to contract the hantavirus; even then, only about 7-8 of these yearly cases result in death.  The incidence of drowing in the bathtub is 1 in 800,000.  

The positive side is, you are far more likely to win the lottery than contract the virus.  The chances of winning a lottery are between 120,000,000 to 1 and 18,000,000 to one!

If you have actually been exposed to the virus, you should take note of flu-like symptoms.  This is what the scientists at the Center for Disease Control say:

"If you have been exposed to rodents or rodent infestations and have symptoms of fever, deep muscle aches, and severe shortness of breath, see your doctor immediately. Inform your doctor of possible rodent exposure so that he/she is alerted to the possibility of rodent-borne diseases, such as HPS."

I hope these statistics alleviate your fears.  Here are my sources for the hantavirus:

CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/FAQ.htm

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus

emedicine:
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic861.htm

squeaks,

Natasha