: Be careful!!

[Soroush Ebrahimi]

This is pretty gross but better warned than not.

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 or 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 or mouse
droppings at any time. 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.

[Washing of hands is so very important - Observations at public toilets show
that a large number of people of both sexes do not was their hands after
visiting the toilet. In fact the dirties place in a toilet is the door
handle.

At our local hospital, they have now installed alcohol wipe systems at
entery and exit points and at every bed and the trials in three wards have
shown that since this installation cross infection has gone down rapidly -
as if it was a surprise!

Another survey done by US Navy showed that washing hands and face 5 times a
day reduced the chances of catching colds and flu - Of course the ritual of
the washing of hands and face 5 times is part of the Muslim prayer ritual!

Soroush]

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