Photo by Jared BelsonRodents are known for carrying a huge number of diseases. Often in the wild, rats will feed on anything that can provide them with nutrition. This could be rotting food, animal faeces, and even rotting animal corpses, and so this means they come in contact with a staggering amount of different bacteria and viruses. Rodents carry many nasty diseases which they can spread to humans, normally through their urine including; Leptospirosis or Weil's disease, Salmonella, Listeria, Toxoplasma gondii and Hantavirus. Some of these are harmless, but others can cause life threatening illnesses in humans. Below we will take a look at just a few of the diseases that can affect rodents and humans in the United Kingdom:
Salmonella
Around 10% of rats in the UK carry Salmonella, a serious form of food poisoning caused by the bacteria Salmonellosis. Rats can spread this disease to humans if they come in direct contact with the rat’s faeces or urine. This means it’s important to keep rats, and mice as they are also known to carry the disease, as far away from any food or water sources within your home or you will be at risk of infection.
If you do become infected with Salmonella it’s important that you seek medical attention as in some cases it can be deadly, particularly to those with weakened immune systems. You might start to feel symptoms within 12 – 72 hours after being exposed to the bacteria. Symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea.
Leptospirosis
Although Leptospirosis is rare, it’s important to be aware about how you can contract the disease as the disease will sometimes progress to more serious conditions such as Weil’s disease or Meningitis, both of which can be fatal. Leptospirosis is caused by the bacteria Leptospira. Consuming water or food contaminated with rodent urine is the most common way to contract Leptospirosis, but you can also catch the disease if broken areas of skin come into contact with contaminated water or soil. If you think you’ve become infected with Leptospirosis it’s extremely important to seek out medical attention. The symptoms can come on suddenly around 5 – 14 days after infection and include coughing, diarrhea and vomiting, headache, a fever and chills, muscle pain, a rash, and occasionally jaundice. If the disease progresses and becomes more severe you may experience fatigue, an irregular heartbeat, nosebleeds, chest pain, poor appetite, swelling of limbs. If you fail to seek treatment the disease could lead to life-threatening kidney failure.
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCM)
This disease can be extremely problematic and can in some circumstances lead to death. It’s vital that you seek urgent medical attention if you think you may be experiencing Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, although it’s thought that the mortality rate for Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis is actually less than 1%. The common house mouse is the primary carrier of Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, surprisingly it’s thought that around 5% of the global population of house mice carry the disease, but show no signs of illness throughout their life. It’s not just wild rodent’s that carry the disease – pet mice or rats can also become infected. Once they become infected it’s possible for your pet rodent to then spread the disease to you and would therefore become a hazard. This is why it’s so important to keep wild rodents away from your home, and even more important if you own a commercial pet shop or pet rodent breeding facility.
You can contract Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis a variety of ways: breathing in dust contaminated with rodent urine or droppings, drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated, even being bitten by the animal can cause an infection (although more likely with pets than wild animals).
When Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis infects humans the symptoms will usually occur 8-13 days after infection. These include fever, lack of appetite, muscle ache, headache, nausea and vomiting, and pain in areas such as your joints, chest, salivary glands, and testicles. Because of the range of symptoms Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis causes it’s considered a neurological condition. As the disease progresses and starts to affect your central nervous system your symptoms will become very similar to meningitis, and you may also experience motor abnormalities and sensory disturbances as a swelling on the brain starts.
If a woman is pregnant when coming into contact with the disease it’s possible for her to spread the disease to her unborn baby. Unborn children who become infected will often develop abnormalities, and can occasionally result in death.
These are just a few of the diseases that can be spread by rodents in the UK, but it is thought that they carry a lot more. Rats are a common problem around homes, gardens, farms and business premises. Because of this there is a legal obligation under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 to keep premises rodent free, or, if rodents pose a threat to health or property, to report infestations to the local authority.
At Accurate Pest Control Management we provide many services to help keep rats off your property including minor proofing work. If you need help getting rats off your property don’t hesitate to contact us, or visit our web page to see more information about the treatments we provide.
