Humans need not fear attacks from these tiny creatures. However, house mice are known to cause rampant damage to property and food supplies. They can carry diseases such as salmonellosis, rickettsial pox, dermatitis, Weil's disease, and meningitis.
The most detrimental activity of mice is their propensity to nibble on food. House mice contaminate 10 times more food than they consume, tasting everything in sight and discarding partially eaten bits of food in favor of tastier treats. While foraging, mice defecate, urinate, and shed hair, which makes food unfit for consumption by humans or other animals. They also chew through electrical wiring, which destroys appliances, causes power shorts and outages, and even leads to electrical fires.