You can wear a mask to prevent any airborne inhalation, and also some goggles or protective eyewear, to be sure not to have any spores enter the body through your eyes.
Next, you can look for sure giveaway signs for the carcass. Firstly, as stated before, the foul smell can be the biggest indicator as to the location of a carcass. Other animals may smell this before you do, so another sign of a carcass can be the other animals attracted to the area.

A lot of rat carcasses are found through the location of other animals, but there are a few common areas to find the carcass. Mostly, they will not be within the rooms of the property, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because you don’t WANT carcasses inside your household, but a curse, because it can make these harder to find. They’re commonly found in the attic or a cavity, either in the loft or between the wall spaces within the house. Lastly, if your house has a basement, this is commonplace to find rats. Anywhere with low human activity is a favoured environment for rodents.

Attic spaces and wall cavities are certainly some difficult places to get into sometimes, and getting carcasses out can seem a tricky task. For example, wall cavities first of all don’t have direct access sometimes. If you DO have access, this is most likely through your attic space, where you’re able to look down between the wall cavity spacing. Before you create a hole in your wall then, try seeing if there’s an open space for you to look down. You can then use a grab-stick to lift the carcass out. If you do need to cut a small hole, make sure it is as close as possible to where the smell is coming from, as it will make getting the carcass out a lot easier.

When rats feel pain, or feel very ill, they will try to go to a location where they feel most comfortable, so it can be especially hard to find rat carcasses in an attic space. Make sure that you wear a proper breathing mask as the close confines of the attic can make spores travel around persistently. Feces could be a good indicator that they are around, but you may have to search for a while. Once found, all carcasses should be placed and concealed in a tied bag, and either thrown in the trash or incinerated. Make sure it is sealed well, maybe even twice, to prevent the attraction of other animals. Lastly, make sure you dispose of anything you can, like disposable gloves, etc., and that you bleach anything you don’t throw away, like the grab-stick. Stay safe, and stay aware that you’re being as hygienic as possible. You may not be safe from the disease until everything is cleared out. The biggest issue when the carcass is gone will be the waste that it leaves behind. For example, in attic spacing, any insulation that may have rat droppings or urine on it will have to be safely disposed of and replaced, as the feces can still retain many diseases that are dangerous to your health. This can sum up to quite a lot of money, but it’s worth it to avoid the hospital fees. If you do find the carcass in the basement, or behind furnishings, this can be easier, as universal bleach can kill these diseases, and is recommended in use to clean all of your tools used, and the surfaces that you’ve found the
carcass on.