A stock clerk was sent to clean up a storeroom in Maui , Hawaii .
When he got back, he was complaining that the storeroom was really
filthy and that he had noticed dried mouse/rat droppings in some
areas.!
A couple of days later, he started to feel like he was coming down
with a stomach flu, complained of sore joints and headaches, and began
to vomit.
He went to bed and never really got up again. Within two
days he was severely ill and weak. His blood sugar count was down to
66, and his face and eyeballs were yellow. He was rushed to the
emergency at Pali-Momi, where he was diagnosed to be suffering from
massive organ failure. He died shortly before midnight.
No one would have made the connection between his job and his death,
had it not been for a doctor who specifically asked if he had been in
a warehouse or exposed to dried rat/mouse droppings at anytime. They
said there is a virus (much like the Hanta virus) that lives in dried
rat and mouse droppings.
Once dried, these droppings are like dust and can easily be breathed
in or ingested if a person does not wear protective gear or fails to
wash face and hands thoroughly.
An autopsy was performed on the clerk to verify the doctor's suspicions.. . This is why it is extremely important to ALWAYS carefully rinse off
the tops of canned sodas or foods, and to wipe off pasta packaging,
cereal boxes, and so on.
Almost everything you buy in a supermarket was stored in a warehouse
at one time or another, and stores themselves often have rodents.
Most of us remember to wash vegetables and fruits but never think of
boxes and cans.
The ugly truth is, even the most modern, upper-class, super store has
rats and mice. And their warehouse most assuredly does!
Whenever you buy any canned soft drink, please make sure that you wash
the top with running water and soap or, if that is not available,
drink with a straw.
The investigation of soda cans by the Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta discovered that the tops of soda cans can be encrusted with
dried rat's urine, which is so toxic it can be lethal. Canned drinks
and other foodstuffs are stored in warehouses and containers that are
usually infested with rodents, and then they get transported to retail
outlets without being properly cleaned.