LCMV risk from mice infestation. Anyone ever been tested?

[LizChase]

Hi everyone, I am about 6 weeks pregnant, and for the past week or so have been setting and disposing of mouse traps in our garage from a small infestation. Nothing crazy, we've caught two so far and there is at least one more that is eluding us. But after about a week of doing this I thought "Hey, I probably shouldn't be doing this!" And then I made the mistake of looking up the risks of being near mice on the internet. Hoooo-boy. That was a mistake. Turns out there's a disease mice carry called LCMV that causes terrible birth defects if you're exposed to it in early pregnancy. My first appointment is in two weeks, and I want to ask my doctor to do a blood test to see if I was really exposed to it, but I'm afraid she'll think i'm totally neurotic. Which I kind of am I guess. Anyone ever had this be a concern or get tested for the virus?

 

[LizChase]

Ok, now I have a low fever, like 99.3 so I'm really freaked out because this is one of the symptoms.

 

[Jess812]

If your really worried go to hospital or call your midwife?

 

[LizChase]

Yeah, going to call the doctor on monday. My friend who is a doctor (not ob, but general surgery) told me to stop googling and that I'm fine. But I'll see what my ob says on Monday. Even if I do have it there's nothing to do, it's a virus.

 

[kerri28]

I understand your worry because our dog alerted us today that we have some mice hanging out in the cabinets below the sink. I have a family member that works for a pest control company and as long as your not coming directly on contact with there droppings and you are washing your hands after touching traps you shouldn't worry. Just make sure they aren't nesting in closest with clothing or droppings in kitchen. I haven't touched anything in that cabinet except a can of lysol(go figure). Homes with mice are extremely common. Do you have pets or storing pet food in your garage? Any holes or openings like cracks in walls and such can be filled with steel wool or covered with mesh wiring. Do you have a pest control company that can handle setting and disposing of traps? Most will come out to check and dispose of traps they set.

 

[LizChase]

We had some birdseed in the garage they were getting into. We've thrown it away, and as far as I know they haven't gotten in the house. I only was messing with the traps, but I did vacuum up some of the droppings so I'm kind of worried about having inhaled the dust and stuff. I was told today that you have to wait 15-21 days after exposure to do a test for it, so if I'm still concerned about it when I go in for my first appointment we can talk about it. My fever never got any higher than 99, and supposedly it causes "high fever" so that doesn't really fit. I think I was just freaking myself out. But I may get the blood test just for reassurance.

 

[BF217]

Did you ever talk to your doctor or get tested? I'm currently having the same concerns after finding mouse poop on some Christmas decorations in the attic over the weekend. Reading the Internet about the possibilities makes me feel paranoid.

 

[LizChase]

I did talk to my doctor. She said there wasn't really a good way to test to see if I was exposed to it, so I never did a test. She assured me it is so so so rare that it's really not worth worrying about. Like, there's been fewer then 100 cases ever in the whole world where they've linked it to birth defects. As long as you washed your hands after and don't get flu like symptoms in a week or so, I wouldn't worry too much!

 

[LizChase]

And despite that day I had a low fever, I never really felt sick or had any other symptoms, so I'm fairly certain that I didn't catch anything from the mice.