How likely you are to get sick from mouse droppings depends on the type of mouse, the amount of exposure, how you clean it, and your personal health, but the overall risk for a healthy person from a small, brief exposure is relatively low if you take precautions. Most people who encounter a few droppings in a house and clean them properly do not get sick. However, mouse droppings can carry pathogens like hantavirus from deer mice and other wild mice, salmonella, leptospirosis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, which are spread when droppings dry out and become airborne dust that is inhaled, or when food is contaminated and eaten, or when you touch droppings and then touch your mouth. Hantavirus infection is rare but serious, with only a few dozen cases per year in the US. The risk increases with heavy infestations, cleaning without gloves and mask, sweeping or vacuuming droppings which aerosolizes them, and in enclosed poorly ventilated spaces like attics and sheds. Children, elderly, pregnant people, and immunocompromised individuals have higher risk. To reduce risk, never sweep droppings dry, ventilate the area for 30 minutes, wear rubber gloves and an N95 mask, spray droppings with bleach solution, let it soak for five minutes, wipe up, and wash hands thoroughly.
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