What Cleaning Products Kill Rodent Bacteria and Viruses?

CDC directs the use of a general-purpose household disinfectant — confirm the word "disinfectant" is on the label — or a fresh bleach solution. The current CDC recipe is exact: combine 1.5 cups of household bleach in 1 gallon of water (or 1 part bleach to 9 parts water), and make the solution fresh before each use rather than storing it. EPA also maintains a list of registered disinfectants CDC links to as an alternative to bleach.

Neither product works as a quick dry wipe. Spray droppings and urine until very wet, then let the solution soak about 5 minutes (or per the label's contact time) before wiping up with paper towels — that soak time is what inactivates the pathogens. Before any of this, an enclosed space needs 30 minutes of airing out with the room empty, because diseases like hantavirus are mainly spread when people breathe in contaminated air stirred up by disturbing dry droppings.

Do not vacuum or sweep rodent urine, droppings, or nesting materials, dry or otherwise, at any point in this process. CDC is explicit that this can send tiny virus-carrying droplets into the air. If a space was already vacuumed or swept before this guidance was known, go back and wet-clean it properly rather than continuing with dry methods.