I forwarded this to a friend and she provided the following information:

This is listed on a couple of the urban legends sites:

  http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blrats2.htm
  http://www.snopes2.com/toxins/raturine.htm

As well as on the CDC's:

  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hoaxes/hanta-hoax.htm

Rat
and mouse droppings and urine can transmit hantavirus and potentially
a few other diseases, though they are not toxic in themselves. But
the incident detailed here is completely fictional, and the chances
of someone contracting an illness through this sort of scenario are
very slim.


Deborah

-----Original Message-----
From:   Trish Tipton [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Monday March 26, 2001 9:13 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        [P-F] I received this from my friend at the EPA

Passing it on, it's just another  reason to stay with whole foods and the
paleo diet!

Please read this and than pass it info on.  You might help save a life.

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 tops of 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