# Can mice make you sick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109 "2018-02-03T17:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/1 "2018-02-03T17:24:50Z")
I killed a mouse in the house the other day. There is at least one more scurrying around somewhere- I can hear it. Now I have discovered that he has been on my kitchen counters- he chewed a hole through a bag of chips, making a big mess. All this is pretty new AFAIK, I don’t think there were any mice here as recently as December. Meanwhile, I have had some serious cold symptoms lately. Could they be connected? If I can’t exterminate them, are there other illnesses I should expect to get from my kitchen or who knows where else? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/2 "2018-02-03T17:35:02Z")
Mice themselves not so much, but their piss and shit carry all the dangers normally associated with piss and shit in the general case … get a house cat … ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/3 "2018-02-03T17:38:56Z")
I hesitate to even mention [Hantavirus](https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/hps/symptoms.html). It’s comparatively rare, but it’s the reason I get after mice in my environment everywhere I find them. Your symptoms don’t sound like Hantavirus, but be mindful of it. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/4 "2018-02-03T17:41:30Z")
Heh, I would really like a cat. The only thing stopping me is that I work long hours, or else am away from home for other reasons. Getting a kitten would therefore be tough as I could not keep an eye on it like I think it would need. A rescue cat… I guess I feel like it would get lonely, maybe decide to tear things up. If we want to turn this into a “talk Try2B into getting a cat” thread, I am ok with that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/5 "2018-02-03T18:34:12Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I guess I feel like it would get lonely, maybe decide to tear things up. > > If we want to turn this into a “talk Try2B into getting a cat” thread, I am ok with that. How about we turn this into a “talk **Try2B** into getting _two_ cats” thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/6 "2018-02-03T19:57:57Z")
Of course, it’s also possible that you’re allergic to them. That could cause cold-like symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/7 "2018-02-03T20:26:16Z")
^^That’s what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/8 "2018-02-03T20:53:54Z")
The “working long hours” thing isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. You’ll want to adopt an adult - not a kitten - who’s already proven to be a good mouser. (Not all cats are good hunters!) Plenty of cats out there are aloof and wouldn’t give much of a shit if you’re there or not. Basically, you need a tame and somewhat friendlier version of a barn cat. Betcha the Craigslist for your area has some. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/9 "2018-02-03T21:08:43Z")
The deer mice which are most likely to be carrying the hantavirus are mousy colored (brown) with white bellies and legs. We used to kill a few from time to time when I was in Idaho and we just never handled their droppings. We used gloves or there was a good handwashing to follow. Actually the washing always followed… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/10 "2018-02-03T21:09:19Z")
They can if you eat too many. And yeah, the mere presence of a cat in your house will keep mice away. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/11 "2018-02-03T21:16:10Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Mice themselves not so much, but their piss and shit carry all the dangers normally associated with piss and shit in the general case. Indeed. For instance, [leptospirosis](https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/index.html) is usually vectored to humans by contamination from urine or feces of many animals including rodents. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/12 "2018-02-03T22:08:29Z")
It’s difficult finding adult cats in the convenient three-pack, so you’ll have to get just three cats … easy enough … your home sounds purrfect for cats, they’re pretty much maintenance free; put four days food in a bowl, leave the toilet seat up and turn some dirt over in the neighbor’s flower beds; that’s all you need to do if you’re going to be gone, or even if you stay … that’s how easy it is to take care of the lil’ darlings … it’s strictly an urban myth that they are always trying to kill you, they just aren’t smart enough to be successful … As mentioned above … just keeping three cats in your home will drive away the mice, the gophers, the bluejays … the neighbors, the relatives, any new girlfriends … the list goes on and on for what cats are good at getting rid of … your sanity, clean clothes, room for you on your bed … ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/13 "2018-02-03T22:21:17Z")
Mice are part of the life cycle of the deer tick, which spreads Lyme disease. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/14 "2018-02-03T22:26:39Z")
Or you could have mice, and a cold. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/15 "2018-02-03T23:18:53Z")
You’re worried about leaving a cat alone for the day? Seriously? Cats have no concept of time. Leave one for a minute, leave one for eight hours…same difference to them. I’ll come back to mine after being gone two days and they’ll just look at me as if, “Were you at the store?” They’re very affectionate, but they don’t have crazy, irrational fears about my absence like my dogs do. Good advice about getting a proven mouser. Many of my cats simply wouldn’t make “the kill.” They would play with the mouse/chipmunk/baby rabbit and even bring it inside, but they wouldn’t get to the final solution… ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/16 "2018-02-04T00:00:41Z")
A quick +1 for a pair of rescue cats. I have a pair that are brothers. They do keep one another company, and it does seem that when you have a pair they are a bit less neurotic. I got my boys from a no-kill shelter. They came desexed and immunised, I like to support these efforts. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/17 "2018-02-04T01:01:42Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > All this is pretty new AFAIK, I don’t think there were any mice here as recently as December. Meanwhile, I have had some serious cold symptoms lately. Could they be connected? If I can’t exterminate them, are there other illnesses I should expect to get from my kitchen or who knows where else? For the love of Christ… You _could_ be experiencing “cold symptoms” from any number of sources, including the virus that causes colds transferred from another human. Incinerate the earth for 100 miles around you if you wish to be certain (maybe). However, the surviving mice will come out of their holes at night to infect you. They _ **thirst** _ for human blood. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/18 "2018-02-04T01:06:33Z")
The average american is much more likely to get toxoplasmosis from their pet cat than hantavirus or other illnesses from mice in their vicinity. They’re also far more likely to get gastro-enteritis from food prepared by people who don’t handle it properly than get either toxo or hanta. People in general are very, very poor at estimating actual health risks in their environment. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/19 "2018-02-04T02:03:27Z")
YMMV, But I have 2 cats, they are very demanding and need constant attention. They can tell time, ( don’t be late with the treats). And, the Biggie, I am positive they are plotting to kill me!! I suggest a pest control company. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109/20 "2018-02-04T02:08:53Z")
Or a few snap traps. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-mice-make-you-sick/808109.md?page=2)