Should I take responsibility for a pregnant stray?

I have been fostering strays and unwanted cats and kittens for a few years now. I was very excited today when I was told that my next visitor will be a friendly pregnant stray. But now I am not so sure that I should risk giving her a safe home for the next 12 weeks. Reasons:

My first feral kitty, who will be 4 years old this fall, has the calici virus (possibly herpes) which is perhaps the reason why all her babies died within their first few days three years ago. She now lives with me and three other cats on the ground floor of my house. She is due to have the rest of her teeth extracted in 12 days time. 

The space I have for fostering cats is in the cellar. It is well away from the area used by my own cats. It is a large room with windows opening out onto a small below-ground enclosure where some fosters like to sunbathe. To get into this room you have to go through a set of double-doors. The area between the doors already has a hand-disinfection dispenser so keeping hands clean is not a problem. But what about my shoes and clothes? Kittens will have to be visited many times during the day and night and I can't see myself changing my clothes each time they need fresh water, bedding and food or when the litterboxes and the room itself has to be cleaned.

It's now already too late - the mother cat has arrived. She doesn't look very far gone into her pregnancy - it may only be worms. I've had to treat her for fleas so deworming will have to wait. 

Any tips on how to avoid spreading the calici virus? I don't think it's likely that the kittens (if there are any) will be born in the next 2 weeks.

Have you talked to your vet about how calicivirus sheds and spreads?  I found this:

Calicivirus is typically transmitted by direct contact with infected eye, mouth, or nose discharge. Infected dishes, carriers, bedding, litter boxes, and human hands in multi-cat environments such as kennels and shelters may also be a route of infection.

This disease typically lasts one to two weeks, but cats generally become lifetime chronic carriers that shed the virus and display mild symptoms under stress.

Click to expand...

From this article:  http://www.pet360.com/cat/health/calicivirus-in-cats/42gJj403b0idm8v6BjfOiA

So you should be okay as long as your resident kitty isn't actively having any symptoms.

Thank you for your answer. There is so much conflicting information on the web. I am just going to have to try to keep myself as "clean" as possible. The general feeling here is that the virus is spread by cats eating and drinking from the same bowls. When food isn't eaten by my cats, I just throw it out anyway. It never gets recycled!

I have regular contact with 3 vets - and occasionally with another 2. As a result of the different local grants given to vets in the area in castration and spaying programmes for strays (the animal charity pays half and the local authority the other half) I have to visit the different vets also depending on where the cats are found or trapped and which one is willing to do the operation more or less at once. I have a good relation with them all and my own cats have met them - though I know which vets will suggest an expensive operation, or will not listen when I say there is no way that I can get 2 tablets per day into this cat (feral). 

The advice I get from the vets is also conflicting. One speaks about the calici virus and told me I shouldn't`t keep kittens - when I said that any kittens would be in another part of the house she said "OK". One spoke about the calici virus and herpes virus as one virus - once all my cat's teeth have been removed she will have no more outbreaks so will not affect other cats. One, the only man, speaks about cat viruses in general. He won't be specific and just treats the symptoms. On the other hand he's been very good at treating kittens for me out of surgery hours when they've suddenly weakened at the weekend.

I won't have time to contribute much to the site now. I will have to spend my evenings with the new cat (no Internet in the cellar). She will be advertised in the local papers and on our web site under "Found". I am still hoping that someone will claim her back. She has not eaten much but I brushed her this morning so her coat is now nice and soft. The fleas have gone. 

Thanks again for the answer. Hope to be back soon.