Diseases from Rodents

Rodents adapt well to living with and in close proximity to humans. Rodents in the home are dangerous to you and your families’ health. While rodents nest and travel throughout our homes, they transfer pathogens with their urine and feces.

Over a six month period, a pair of mice will eat about 4 pounds of food, produce about 18,000 droppings and 12 ounces of urine depositing in thousands of areas. The pathogens may also be deposited via saliva and blood spewed during rodent fights. Finally, rodents shed their hair daily and lose an entire coat twice a year. In this way, millions of rodent hairs and hair fragments, possibly containing pathogens, are also deposited into our environment.

Inside our homes where food, water, and harborage are readily available, rodents are prolific breeders, with an average 150 offspring per year. This results in tens or hundreds of rodents living and moving about in our homes. Disease organisms present within these populations can spread rapidly to infect areas, people, and pets. Diseases from rodents are harmful, so it is important to take action if you find evidence of a mouse problem.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention complied a list of diseases directly transmitted by rodents:How Hantavirus is Transferred and Diseases from Rodents

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Rodent(s) involved : Deer mouse, Cotton rat, Rice rat, White-footed mouse

Agent: Virus

How the disease spreads:

• Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings
• Direct contact with rodents or their urine and droppings
• Bite wounds, although this does not happen frequently

Leptospirosis

Rodent(s) involved: Rodents and other animals

Agent: Bacteria

How the disease spreads:

• Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals
• Contact through the skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animals

Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM)

Rodent(s) involved: House mouse (Mus musculus)

Agent: Virus

How the disease spreads:

• Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings
• Direct contact with rodents or their urine and droppings
• Bite wounds, although this does not happen frequently

Rat-Bite Fever

Rodent(s) involved: Rats and possibly mice

Agent: Bacteria

How the disease spreads:

• Bite or scratch wound from an infected rodent, or contact with a dead rodent
• Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces.

Salmonellosis

Rodent(s) involved: Rats and mice

Agent: Bacteria

How the disease spreads:

• Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces

Tularemia

Rodent(s) involved: Wild rodents, including muskrats, ground squirrels and beavers

Agent: Bacteria

How the disease spreads:

• Handling infected animal carcasses
• Being bitten by an infected tick, deerfly or other insect
• Eating or drinking contaminated food or water
• Breathing in the bacteria.

Thomas Pest Services can give you peace of mind, with our rodent control services. Thomas Pest Services will make sure you, your family, health and home are safe from rodents and diseases from rodents. Keep an eye out for pest and rodent signs and at the first signs of infestation, contact a Clifton Park pest Control Company like Thomas Pest Services. . The best action you can take for your home, family and property is contacting a pest management professional for a no charge home audit

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