Diseases You Can Get from Common Household Pests

Pests are nuisances that scurry around causing upset and stress. Some are capable of destroying homes, like termites and carpenter ants. Disturbingly, a number of common household pests can even pass diseases on to humans. It’s important to understand that when you contact pest control Visalia for pest extermination services, you are helping to better ensure the health of your family. Read on to learn about some of the diseases household pests can transfer to humans.

Diseases Caused by Cockroaches

Arguably the most disgusting of all household pests, cockroaches are attracted to moisture and food. You could keep a pristine kitchen and sweep up crumbs from your floors as a way of ensuring that your home doesn’t attract food-foraging roaches. All of those efforts could come to naught, however, if there are leaky pipes or other breaches in your home that result in moisture. That’s because cockroaches are also highly attracted to water sources.   When roaches crawl into food or over dishes and utensils, they leave behind disease-spreading bacteria and viruses which are carried in their bodies. In messy homes, they leave trails in piles of laundry and anywhere they can hide or search for moisture and morsels of food.   Roaches are widespread problems. They transmit germs through their saliva, feces, and shedding body parts that cause children to suffer from respiratory problems. Research shows that 1 in 5 children have severe cockroach allergies. Allergy and asthma problems are often triggered in children by the presence of cockroaches. Scientists are also exploring a theory that younger children can develop asthma directly because of exposure to cockroaches. Contact a pest extermination service if there are cockroaches in your home.

Mosquitos

In summer and during rainy seasons, mosquitoes come out in full force. They bite, cause great annoyance, and sometimes carry disease. The following are among the diseases spread to humans by the bites of mosquitoes:  

• Malaria is the most deadly disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Dengue fever is also a well-known disease mosquitoes spread. Outbreaks of both malaria and dengue sometimes occur in the US, usually as a result of travelers who were infected in other locations.
• Zika Virus is thought of as a mild form of dengue. Sufferers experience joint pain, fever, red eyes, and rashes. The most frightening aspect of the Zika Virus is that it can cause serious problems in pregnant women, including causing a birth defect called microcephaly.
• Chikungunya can be contracted from mosquitoes. Once infected, it can take anywhere from 2 to 12 days to experience the symptoms, which include joint pain and fever.
• Mosquitoes also spread Yellow Fever to humans, a viral disease that causes back pain, fatigue, muscle pain, chills, headache, and vomiting.

  Mosquitoes cause a range of health issues varying from short-term infections to life-threatening diseases. Many of the viruses spread by the blood-sucking insects still have no vaccine. Pest control is truly important inside or outside of your home if mosquitoes have become a major problem.

House Flies

House flies may seem like relatively harmless insects but they actually carry a range of diseases on their body. It takes only seconds for a housefly to transfer unseen droppings and harmful bacteria onto household surfaces. Fly infestations are particularly dangerous because the threat of contracting an illness is greatly increased.   House flies are attracted to air currents carrying odors and are usually found in kitchen areas and anywhere garbage is stored. The small hairs that cover their bodies and their legs collect pathogens as female flies are busy laying eggs on organic, decomposing materials such as garbage, feces, and animal corpses.   The following are among the most common diseases carried by house flies:

1. Dysentery, which is inflammation of the intestine that can cause diarrhoea containing blood.
2. Another intestinal disease is salmonella, which can cause fever, stomach cramps, and other intestinal problems such as diarrhoea.
3. Anthrax is a rare disease that can be transferred by biting flies. Within a few days after the bite, swelling and redness may occur followed by a black scab at the infection site.
4. Although typhoid fever transmitted by flies is still a serious problem worldwide, it is rare in the United States, with about 350 people diagnosed with the disease annually.

Fleas

Flea invasions aren’t uncommon in households with pets such as dogs and cats. When pets are outside, fleas easily jump on the animals and are carried into your home, where they can easily jump on you. If you see your furry friend scratching constantly, you can be sure he has fleas. The bites of fleas cause pets and humans pain and itchiness. Fleas can also spread a range of diseases to pets and humans. When fleas bite infected rats and other rodents, it’s possible that they could transmit plague to humans. More about diseases humans contract from fleas follows:

• The plague bacteria is most frequently transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected flea. Although it is still prevalent in certain places in the world, the plague is virtually nonexistent in the US.
• According to 2016 reports, about 12,000 people in the US are diagnosed with cat-scratch disease each year. Cat scratch fever can cause headaches, swollen lymph nodes, body aches, and fatigue.
• Typhus is a flea-borne disease that was once wiped out in the US, but there has been an outbreak and a rise in cases of typhus in Texas in recent years. In 2017, there were 519 cases, which was triple the number in 2010. Symptoms of typhus include fever, muscle pain, headache, vomiting, nausea, and rash. In rare cases, typhus is deadly.

For the health of your family and pets, contact pest control Visalia if your home has a flea infestation.

Contact Pest Control Now for Pest Control Visalia, CA

It may be alarming to realize that the pests you already knew were disgusting can also create serious health risks to yourself and your family. Those listed above aren’t the only ones. Mice and rats can also transfer disease to humans. Pest Control Now offers pest control Visalia that’s so thorough, it’s guaranteed. Understandably, concerns about the dangers of pesticides can cause homeowners to hesitate with regards to a pest extermination service. Rest assured that Pest Control Now uses safe products plus offers a “No Bug Left Behind Guarantee.” You can’t go wrong if you contact Pest Control Now by calling 559-651-9882.