Safety tips for spring cleaning
Posted Apr 3, 2010 3:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
We’re starting to see green shoots everywhere and that has many people wanting to get outside and do some spring cleaning in the yard or garden.
Alberta Health Services is offering some tips on how to stay safe while you clean up.
Dr. Judy MacDonald tells 660News if people come across what looks like a mouse nest or droppings, be careful.
She says if you disturb the droppings, Hantavirus can be suspended in the air and inhaled. The virus can cause very severe illness in people, often affecting the lungs and giving people shortness of breath.
MacDonald says make sure the area is ventilated properly, soak it down with bleach and water and use gloves while you’re cleaning up the nest or droppings.
She also says make sure to read the instructions when using pesticides and to keep them stored where kids and pets can’t get at them.
And also with the warmer weather comes the threat of West Nile Virus.
MacDonald says to look out for accumulated rain or drainage water and remove them when cleaning up the yard.
Mosquitoes, especially ones that carry the virus, like to lay their eggs in standing water.
