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Hi all,
I bought a used Baldwin spinet piano and saw that it had mouse droppings in the bottom front panel and inside along the keys. I vacuumed them up and the rest of the piano with a soft brush. Then I started reading online and came across the Hanta Virus and started freaking out. Now I'm worried that I may have infected myself and family by vacuuming. I'm guessing as technicians and tuners you have come across this, would you be worried? I called my doctor and I'm waiting for a call back.
thanks!

You are probably okay. There are mice everywhere, whether you see them or not, and most of them do not carry the virus.

Thanks! My dr's office hasn't called me back yet. I've never heard of this virus and my parents have a vacation house in the mountains and we have always just vacuumed up the mouse droppings. I feel really stupid now that I did that.

I would have a piano tech clean under the keys. There may be the remains of a mouse nest under the keys.

12 15 days the virus stay active

I have read, "sensitive to dessication" I am not sure what it mean but I read it as "the virus die if dessicated"

There is a rising of infections in Luxemburg.Belgium

Not from mices , more from rodents that live oustside houses

I think if the mice presence is old there is no risk, but precautions are normal then when vacuuming or cleaning


Epidemiology shows that those

infections are localized , some regions are more prone to see them.

People working in the woods, hunters, are more prone to be affected.
There is a vaccine avaliable only in Asia (south Korea I think ), and may be only for the type they have there.

I think that the life of the virus cannot be that long, and only recent exposure may be dangerous.

But I just read that 12-15 days life in an official report on the European Hanta virus (and I am certainly not expert on viruses)

The cases are rare, hopefully.

"...I vacuumed them up and the rest of the piano with a soft brush. Then I started reading online and came across the Hanta Virus and started freaking out. Now I'm worried that I may have infected myself and family by vacuuming..."

Well, lexicat, I don't know that freaking out is going to help you--- I would try to calm down, first of all. It was probably a good idea to call your doc, because accurate information on risks, symptoms, incubation time and treatments (unfortunately, there is no cure) can best be had there.

Hantavirus can cause a serious, even fatal illness, so due caution is a good idea. I would suggest, at least, disposable gloves, a good dust mask and a reliable disinfecting cleaning agent. One that can inactivate cold and flu virus on surfaces is likely to also help with hantavirus. (That is my assumption; you might call the manufacturer's 800 number. There are stronger antiviral cleaners that are sold to doctors and vets, if you don't mind having your piano smell like iodoform for awhile.)

Throw away the vacuum cleaner bag, bagged up.

If flu-like symptoms haven't emerged within a week or so, you're probably ok.

Hantavirus is transmitted to humans by inhaling the dust of dried urine from infected rodents, especially mice. So the hygiene is: (1) don't inhale dust with dried mouse urine, and (2) exclude mice from your home(s). It's true, mice and rodents are very widespread--- maybe not everywhere. When roof rats got into our house, the exterminator recommended we harden the premises with hardware cloth barriers. So we had him do it, from basement vents to gables. He showed us where they had gotten in, a little hole so small (next to a pipe) you couldn't believe it.

Now that you know, use the precautions.

As for your piano, count your lucky stars that the mice didn't ruin it, because they certainly can. For purchasers of secondhand upright pianos, it's not a bad idea to open that bottom panel and check for signs of mice.

In case you're interested, there was a thread on the Tuner/Tech forum a few years back about amazing objects that have been found inside pianos. None of them have reported coming down with hantavirus.

On those subjects there are generally a survey and state of knowledge conclusions available on line.

You also can read some searcher saying that 50% of the cases are fatal, whole most other sources say about 1-3%. So take what you read with a pinch of salt

I live in the countryside, and mice in the house is a fact of winter life. Like everything else, hygiene when handling any type of droppings or manure is important. Gloves and masks are pretty routine when cleaning out pipe organs, which have mouse droppings galore.

Makes me imagine mice blowing out of the ends of the pipes while someone is playing the organ!

Probably been done by Tom and Jerry !

The vintage Steinway pianos I have seen from late 1800s have screen covers to prevent mice entering the case where the handles for lifting are in the back of the piano, and over the back of the soundboard.

HEPA vacuums are advised since most vans blow back contaminated air. Rubber gloves and masks, dispose of all materials outside after wrapping in bags and sealing them. I have removed huge mice nests and seen all types of droppings many old but others not so old. I had a client with a serious issue where mice had chewed the hammers to cotton like mallets. Eventually had to construct a screen to cover the opening under the keybed on top of the bottom kick panel. Also stuffed a copper mesh into the pedal openings and placed small cloth bags filled with chewing tobacco . You do not want to put de con or poison in the piano because the mice will go die in your walls or pets will eat poisoned mice.

When I bought my first HEPA-filter vacuum, several years ago, the manufacturer's information that came with it said that appx. 10% of the dust that is vacuumed up by non-HEPA units is blown right back out the back end.

On the downside, that's three different filter elements to keep up with and keep changing, and it probably impairs the suction strength. But I'd rather enjoy my house dust (let alone mouse dust) just the once.