Greetings -
Please be careful when handling the materials and cleaning the storage area.
Respiratory virus is a concern when dealing with mice infestation.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/generalinfoindex.htm
In the General Information area please look at:
(quote)
"Transmission Details: So How Does "Aerosolization" Really Work?.....
Because the virus is spread when virus-containing particles are
stirred up into the air, an essential HPS tactic in areas showing
signs of rodents is to avoid actions that raise dust and to carefully
wet the area down with disinfectant. The less chance the virus has to
get into the air, the less chance it will be breathed in!"
best wishes -
Mary Baughman
Book Conservator
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
The University of Texas at Austin
P.O.Drawer 7219
Austin, Texas 78713-7219
Telephone (512) 471-8635 or 471-9117
Fax (512) 471-7930
You can use an ultraviolet light to identify any areas of rodent
urine on the objects and in the drawers. Rodent urinate as often as
the produce feces. I have bought one of these units from Bioquip in
the past.
The urine is like any mammalian urine and should be removed
chemically. The feces should be physically removed from the drawers
with forceps. Use latex/neoprene gloves, dust mask and eye
protection.
If you can replace any fouled packing materials, do so. The boxes
can be treated with a disinfectant if empty. I have used Lysol
aerosol with good results. You can dissolve the concentrate Lysol
in alcohol for a quicker drying time. Test it on a drawer for any
possible reaction first though.
Also look for greasemarks on the sides of the drawers or where the
rodents were identified to be moving into the area from. The
biggest issue is to make sure your pest company uses traps and not
poison to resolve the issue. If poison, you will possibly have a
dead rodent in the walls or attic area. Once the smell goes away
and they dry out, the carcasses are wonderful reservoirs for
dermestid beetles and clothes moths. Even if they use traps, make
sure they account for all traps when complete. An old trap will
still capture a rodent and if the program is over, you will still
have the dead rodent on your hands.
Jim Harmon
California Pest Management, inc.
626-633-6620
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:[email protected]>a z
To: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 4:37 PM
Subject: [pestlist] rodents in collection storage
We recently discovered evidence of mice (and perhaps small rats) in
several boxes in our Museum's Collection Storage area. We have
called in bids from various pest companies, so we are fine on that
score.
My question to you all is - since this is the first time I have
encountered this in over 10 years in the Museum biz - how best to
treat the contaminated boxes?? So far all we have found are
droppings and evidence of packing material (ethefoam and tissue)
being shredded and used for nesting. The boxes contain various
items - metal, ceramic, some papers....
The papers were not chewed, but I am not sure how best to clean them
to make sure no stray fecal matter is left behind. I realize we may
just have to get rid of some of the items if they are not pertinent
to the Mission of our museum. The ceramic and metal items are such
that we can clean with liquid cleaners. So far we are only at the
stage of identifing the contaminated boxes and bagging them closed.
We have little to no budget for clean up - all $$$ will go to hiring
a pest control service
Any suggestions.......
thanks
