A rat in your home is no cute Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse. They are not as endearing or harmless as Disney’s famous animated characters make them out to be. Rats and mice are pests that can carry deadly diseases. They are a serious health hazard to your home and anyone who enters it.
Remember the infamous Bubonic Plague? We don’t hear of the fatal disease much these days thanks to advanced pest control services, but at one time they wiped out a large part of Europe’s population and a third of humans across the earth. The year was 1347, but tales of the severe epidemic haunt people to date. The culprit for this deadly disease was rats who spread it to humans through their fleas and feces that contaminated food sources. Plague is a highly infectious disease that can spread from both direct contacts or by air. Symptoms are severe pain and gruesome gangrene affecting the skin.
Rats are said to be native to Asia from where they spread to Europe. They reproduce fast, spread infections faster and are known to have claimed the lives of nearly 200 million in Europe during the nasty epidemic. Rats are also known to spread many other diseases that you should be wary of.
Salmonella
The word is associated with infected raw eggs and chicken, but the deadly disease can spread fast through rodents’ excretions too. Consuming food that is contaminated with salmonella is more common than you know. Look out for rat or mice urine or droppings in and around your home. Call a reliable pest control professional to have them disinfect the areas and remove rat infestation.
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis
Rats can bite and how! Their sharp teeth can create serious infections, inflammations, fever, chills, vomiting, headaches, open sores, and muscle aches. Direct contact with rat urine or saliva can also contaminate human food transmitting a deadly viral disease called (LCMV).
Tapeworms
These tiny ribbon-like worms thrive in the intestines of infected animals. Rats and mice are prone to tapeworm infections when they come in contact with contaminated water or undercooked meat. They are excreted through rat droppings through which they infect humans triggering excruciating abdominal pain.
Rat Related Dangers and Destruction
Rats and mice cause severe structural damage to your home. These destructive creatures gnaw on wood and plastic leaving gaping holes in closets, kitchen cabinets, floorboards, walls, and living room furniture. They nest beneath foundations, hide in woodpiles, in your garden, clothes, basement, and attic, finding their way through the rest of your house through holes and cracks.
Never touch the holes or droppings with your bare hand or foot. Always wear gloves to dispose of rat droppings and dead rats. Even the air you breathe around them is dangerous. If you come across signs of rat infestations, call trained pest control professionals at once.
Contact Pest Control, Toronto
Look out for brown rats that more commonly called sewer rats or Norway rats. These have shorter tails and longer bodies. Rats are larger than mice and tend to stay away from humans, hiding in holes and nests that are not easily visible to the human eye. Only trained experts can hunt them out.
Call us if you suspect rat infestation in your home, come across rodents or their droppings. Our services include an initial inspection and follow-ups to refresh the bait as needed.