Last Updated on February 27, 2024 by Marie Bautista
There are many types of household and yard pests, including insects, rodents, and wildlife.
Along with their annoying presence, they can cause significant damage to your home. This ranges from termites chewing their way through the walls to squirrels who nest in the attic.
Your outdoor areas are also gathering places for pesky mosquitoes.
Don’t you just hate it when you can’t enjoy the evening summer breeze, because they buzz and bite you like crazy?
Putting up with bites and buzzing is one thing, but if you knew that bugs can harbour all kinds of harmful diseases, would you let them hang around so long? It’s vital that you contact a reputable pest control service such as Aptive Florida (or another elsewhere more relevant) in order to get the problem tackled, if you don’t you could be left with the following illnesses on your hands:
Salmonellosis
Ingesting salmonella bacteria means you are in for a miserable time. Salmonellosis causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps and easily transmits to others through poor hygiene habits. Although most people recover in a day or two, the disease is estimated to affect 1 million people in the U.S. each year. Of that number, 19,000 require hospital care and almost 400 people die. Cockroaches and flies can transmit salmonella bacteria onto food that is then eaten by humans.
Tularemia
Tularemia is caused by bacteria that is spread by flies, ticks, and contact with infected animals, such as rodents. Humans can ingest the bacteria by breathing in contaminated dust. Symptoms can include skin ulcers, fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and, on occasion, throat infection or pneumonia. There are about 200 cases in the U.S. each year.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Another rodent-borne disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, has a mortality rate of 36 percent. Early symptoms are flu-like muscle aches, fever and fatigue, followed by difficulty breathing as the victim’s lungs fill with fluid. Shortness of breath can quickly deteriorate into acute respiratory failure and there is no recognized treatment or cure. Inhaling airborne particles of infected rodent droppings is the way Hantavirus transfers to humans.
Lyme Disease
Ticks carry Lyme disease, passing it to humans through their bite. A headache, fatigue, and fever are the symptoms, which are accompanied by a rash. Most cases respond to antibiotics. However, the infection can spread to the heart and nervous system if not treated. Ticks don’t typically survive indoors unless they can find a supply of hosts, which are usually rodents or other animals. Dogs and cats can carry them indoors, where they can then drop off.
West Nile Virus
Mosquitoes spread West Nile virus through their bites and many cases have been reported throughout the U.S. Only about 20 percent of those who are infected develop symptoms, which include fever, muscle aches, joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches. Severe illnesses can result in symptoms that include stupor, disorientation, coma, muscle weakness, loss of vision, paralysis, and, in some cases, death. Most people with this disease recover fully in time, although symptoms of weakness and fatigue can linger up to several months.
Dangers to Your Family
Wrapping this up, it’s pretty clear that those tiny bugs around us are not as harmless as they seem. They’re like mini carriers of some seriously nasty diseases, from the tick-borne Lyme disease to the dreaded Dengue fever that mosquitoes can bring right to our doorstep.
So, it’s super important for us to stay on top of things and keep these pesky critters at bay. Whether it’s slapping on some bug spray, keeping our places squeaky clean, or even calling in the pros for a pest control pow-wow, every little bit helps. Let’s keep ourselves, our families, and our buddies safe by staying smart and proactive in our bug-busting efforts. Here’s to making our spaces no-fly (and no-crawl) zones for those disease-carrying bugs!