Do Mice Carry Rabies?
Mice do carry rabies. However, it’s exceedingly rare that they get rabies, and no case of mice transmitting rabies to humans has been recorded. That means the chances of you getting rabies from a mouse are incredibly low. That doesn’t mean you should handle wild mice or other wild mammals without protection and care, though.
Signs of rabies include difficulty swallowing, excessive drooling, staggering, paralysis, fearfulness, aggression, and seizures. If your pet or a wild animal that you have encountered exhibits any of these signs, then you need to contact local animal control and seek medical care if you were bitten or scratched.
What Other Diseases Do Mice Carry?
Mice carry various diseases that can pose a danger to humans, including hantavirus, hemorrhagic fever, plague, Lassa fever, tularemia, and more. These are all dangerous ailments that can cause painful infections or even death in some cases.
You’re not very likely to get any of the rarer diseases that mice carry, though you do need to be wary of them. Most of the time, you’re probably going to get a minor infection when a mouse bites you.
You should always clean and disinfect any wounds with hot water and soap. Next, you should put antibacterial cream on the wound and keep an eye on it. You need to seek medical attention for any bites or scratches if they show signs of infection.
How Do Mice Pass Diseases to Humans?
Mice can pass diseases to other people in a variety of ways. Of course, the most frightening of these vectors for infection is bites. Mice do bite, and they can break the skin on humans with ease. Most people get bitten by mice because they are attempting to handle them. Mice are not rabid animals that will chase you down and deliver a bite.
In fact, aside from handling a mouse, the other most common reason that humans are bitten by mice is that they corner them and try to capture them. A cornered mouse is bound to be desperate. That means it will bite as a last resort because it doesn’t understand you just want to hold it.
Yet, bites are not the only means that mice pass diseases to humans. Mice can pass diseases to humans via handling, especially if humans come into contact with their urine, feces, or saliva.
