As soon as the weather cools, rodents begin to look for a warm and comfortable place to winter. Our homes are a great place to make a cozy nest and mice sneak everywhere. They penetrate into cramped spaces no wider than a penny. The National Pest Management Association estimates that rodents invade about 21 million homes in the United States each winter.
Rodents vectors of infectious diseases
The presence of rodents on a daily basis is not without consequences for our health. Indeed, mice, rats, prairie dogs, rabbits, are carriers of bacteria, germs and parasites harmful to humans. Rodents can spread more than 35 diseases!
These infections are transmitted via feces, urine and saliva left in feeding packages. Mice are able to drop up to 25,000 droppings each year, or about 70 times a day.
These feces contaminate food and can trigger allergies and foodborne illnesses such as salmonella. Vectors such as fleas, ticks and mites that have fed on an infected rodent can also bite you and transmit diseases. Bites of mice and rats are quite rare because they are discreet and elusive animals.
At the first signs of mouse infestation, it is advisable to involve a derater exterminator, expert in pest management to eradicate and clean the area infested by the rodent.
The plague
The plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe in the Middle Ages. This disease that affects humans and other mammals is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Humans are usually infected with the plague after being bitten by a flea or after handling an animal carrying the bacteria. The last urban epidemic of rat-related plague in the United States occurred in Los Angeles in 1924-1925. At present, human plague infections continue to appear in rural and semi-rural areas of the western United States.
Plague bacteria are most often transmitted through the bite of an infected flea. If an infected rodent dies, hungry fleas look for other sources of blood, including humans. Exposure to flea bites usually causes bubonic plague.
The bubonic plague
This infection is characterized by the sudden onset of fever, headache, chills and weakness, as well as one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes).
Buboes usually occur in the lymph nodes closest to where the bacteria entered the body. They contain large amounts of bacteria that multiply.
Transmission of plague can also result from contact with contaminated liquid or tissue. For example, a hunter who skins a rabbit or other infected animal without taking proper precautions could become infected. This form of exposure most often results in bubonic or septicemic plague.
Septicemic plague
This infection is characterized by life-threatening septic shock with fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain and possibly bleeding. Septicemic plague can occur as the first symptom of plague or can develop from untreated bubonic plague.
Pneumonic plague
This infection develops if a person breathes droplets containing bacteria. Patients develop fever, headache, weakness and pneumonia that develops rapidly with shortness of breath, chest pain and cough.
Pneumonia can cause respiratory failure and shock. Pneumonic plague is the most severe form of the disease and the only form of plague that can spread from person to person.
In conclusion, plague is a very serious disease, but it can be treated with common antibiotics. However, without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death. The sooner a patient receives proper treatment for plague, the better their chances of recovery.
Tularemia
Tularemia is a disease of animals and humans caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Rabbits, hares and other rodents are particularly susceptible and often die in large numbers during hatching.
Humans can become infected through several pathways, including:
- tick and deer bites
- skin contact with infected animals
- ingestion of contaminated water
- laboratory exposure
- or inhalation of contaminated dust or aerosols.
Tularemia is widespread and present in many parts of the United States. Naturally occurring infections have been reported in every state except Hawaii.
The signs and symptoms of tularemia vary depending on how bacteria enter the body. All forms are accompanied by fever, which can reach 104°F. Although tularemia can be life-threatening, most infections can be successfully treated with antibiotics.
Appeler René Gélinas Votre exterminateur local, Expérience et intégrité dans la gestion parasitaire
Tel 514 830 2819
Hantavirus, definition and mode of transmission
Hantavirus is a severe lung syndrome caused by a virus. It is secreted in the urine, feces and saliva of infected animals. Most often these are rodents. When humans come into direct or indirect contact with these secretions, the virus is transmitted to them. Ditto when they are bitten by infected rodents.
However, the virus is not transmitted from human to human, only from animal to human. This type of disease is called zoonoses because they can only be transmitted to humans through an animal. It has been found that domestic animals (apart from the domestic rat) and livestock cannot contract hantavirus so there is every reason to believe that only rodents can carry it.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Being a lung disease, one of the characteristic symptoms of hantavirus is difficulty breathing. At the beginning of the disease, the infected person begins to feel fever, chills, headache and muscle pain.
It is about two weeks after the appearance of the first symptoms that they are usually accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath. Nevertheless, this last manifestation of the disease can be observed after two days as after six weeks; it depends on the organism of the individual.
Hantavirus can also lead to kidney disease or infection. And although they are rare and very few people are prone to them, there is currently no treatment to combat these ailments. It is therefore better to be careful not to contract them.
The different forms of tularemia
Ulcero-glandular disease
The most common form of tularemia is an ulcero-glandular disease that usually occurs after a tick bite, deer fly or after handling an infected animal. A skin ulcer appears where the body entered the body and is accompanied by swelling of the lymph glands, usually under the armpit or groin.
Glandular tularity is similar to ulcer-glandular tularity, but without ulcer. It is also usually caused by the bite of a tick fly, an infected deer fly or the handling of sick or dead animals.
Oculogusular disease
This infection occurs when bacteria enter through the eye. This can happen when a person shoots an infected animal and accidentally touches or causes certain airborne particles to enter their eyes. Symptoms include irritation and inflammation of the eyes and lymph glands in the ear.
Oro-pharyngealinfection
It results from the consumption of contaminated food or water. Patients with oropharyngeal tularemia may have sore throat, mouth ulcers, tonsillitis and swelling of the lymph glands in the neck.
Onumonic infection
This is the most severe form of tularemia. Symptoms include coughing, chest pain and difficulty breathing. This form results from the respiration of dust or aerosols containing the bacteria. It can also occur when other forms of tularemia (e.g. ulcero-glandular) are left untreated and bacteria spread through the blood to the lungs.
Precautionary measures to keep rodents away from homes and to use a repellent to prevent tick and flea bites are advised.
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