Anyone in the States know what I'm talking about? Similar to hantavirus

[Eventhesparrows]

So our heater went out yesterday morning and until I could get an HVAC technician to come out (this afternoon) I tried to keep the house warm by getting my wood fireplace going (does a horrible job of keeping a house warm, in case you were wondering...which you weren't).

We have a squirrel that likes to hang around our wood pile. While bringing in the wood for the fireplace yesterday, I wasn't wearing gloves and was using my bare hands. I have a lot of little cuts here and there on them from them being so dry in the cold winter air.

We live in New Mexico and I know hantavirus is a danger (minimally so) in terms of deer mice. I remember reading somewhere that if you come into contact with squirrel droppings or urine or saliva, there is a similar disease to hantavirus that you're at risk for contracting.

I don't dare Google it (this isn't my first rodeo), but I'm looking for some reassurance. I didn't wash my hands right away...blame it on the ADD and three children, and I remember eating shortly afterwards.

Im concerned. I don't know if I've come into contact with squirrel droppings/urine/saliva, but I'm sure I could have.

Thank you.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Probably Leptospirosis. That's a rodent one that includes squirrels and comes from saliva, urine & faeces.

According to your CDC it is a risk for anyone who works with animals or in agricultural jobs due to contamination of soil. But it's mostly caught due to floodwaters. Swimming in wild water is a risk but then it is for so many things.

There is no evidence you have touched anything though, only the association that you have a friendly squirrel who is seen there.

We frequently have a squirrel in our garden. I've never bothered with protection when handling areas he goes on. And down our local park we have plenty of them and they will touch your hands if you give them nuts.

We only have about 40 cases a year in the UK as it's hotter countries where it's more common than here (I'm not suggesting it's common in the US, just possibly more so than here) and many are brought back from abroad.

It's soil or water contamination that is always mentioned so I'm not sure whether wood would even be a risk for other than faeces.

But our NHS also state this very important fact:

In 90% of cases, leptospirosis only causes mild flu-like symptoms, such as a headache, chills and muscle pain.

[swgrl09]

I live in New England and we have dozens of squirrels and chipmunks living in our yard ... in our stone wall, in our wood piles, etc. I always bring the wood in with my bare hands. If I remember to wash them after, great, but most of the time I probably don't and I'm still here just fine.

From what I have been told, if you are thinking of lepto, leptospirosis is really only caused if you drink water that they urinated in (according to my vet when they were trying to get me to pay for an extra vaccine for the dog). If you aren't outside drinking from puddles, you really don't need to worry about that one.