Deer Mice and Hantavirus: How to Clean Up Safely

Most mice in a garage are just a nuisance. Deer mice need a little more respect, because they're the main carrier of hantavirus in Colorado. In May 2026, KKTV reported a Colorado death from hantavirus that health officials tied to local rodent exposure, and noted that infections from the Sin Nombre strain show up in the state regularly, most often from deer mice.

The good news is that safe cleanup is simple. It mostly comes down to not stirring up dust.

How people get sick

Garfield County Public Health describes hantavirus as a rare but life-threatening illness that people catch by breathing in particles from deer mouse urine, droppings or saliva. Sweeping, vacuuming or shaking out a nest puts those particles in the air. Symptoms show up one to five weeks after exposure: fever, deep muscle aches and severe shortness of breath. If that happens after you've been around rodents, see a doctor and tell them.

Step by step for a small area

These steps come from the CDC's rodent cleanup guidance:

• Don't sweep or vacuum droppings, urine or nests
• Put on rubber or plastic gloves
• Mix a fresh bleach solution, one and a half cups of bleach per gallon of water, or use a labeled disinfectant
• Spray the droppings and nest until soaked and wait five minutes
• Wipe up with paper towels and put them in a bag
• Double-bag dead mice, nests and used traps, tie them off and put them in a covered trash can
• Mop or wipe the area with disinfectant
• Wash gloved hands, take off the gloves and wash your hands with soap and warm water

Sheds, cabins, barns and cars

For a closed-up building, the CDC says to open every door and window for 30 minutes and stay out while it airs. Then clean as above. Take stored items that may be contaminated outside into a sunny, airy spot. Bag soiled insulation and throw out contaminated cardboard. For a car, air it out for 20 minutes with the hood, doors and trunk open, and don't vacuum until it's been disinfected.

These come up a lot in Black Forest, Monument and out toward Falcon and Peyton, where sheds and cabins sit through the winter.

When to call a pro

The CDC treats heavy infestations, vacant buildings full of rodents, and rodents in heating or cooling ducts as jobs for professionals, with respirators and full protective gear. If you open a shed and it's nests from wall to wall, close the door and call. Attic and nest cleanup and deer mouse control explain what a provider does.

Related services: Deer Mouse Control, Attic and Nest Cleanup, Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings