Dangerous diseases from household pests What to look out for

With more people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s easy to overlook the many other diseases and illnesses that can affect your household and everyone in it. Common household pests are a major spreader of these illnesses and carry a plethora of disease that can affect you and your family.

Pests such as flies, cockroaches, rats and mice are common in many households, with some often going unnoticed. It’s important to stay on top of and stop the spread of these pests as they can harbour many different diseases that can affect your family and home.

The way they carry and spread these germs is quite simple. They often live and sometimes breed in areas filled with germs and then carry these germs with them around your home while searching for food, and potentially contaminating your food sources as well.

A cockroach’s home can be food scraps, rubbish and other unsanitary areas. From here they pick up disease and germs which are carried on their bodies, legs and in their stomachs. When they walk over things like your food, cutlery, crockery, benches or tables germs can be passed onto these items. When we then eat the food or use these items, the germs will likely get transferred and enter your system causing both bacterial and viral diseases.

Each pest can carry different types of disease but some of the more common diseases include Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Gastroenteritis and in some cases, even Hepatitis A. Pests generally remain well-hidden as they are nocturnal.

They are more likely to infest a home when it’s not cleaned or maintained regularly. In these situations, there can be a significant increase in the number of pests as they have access to food and enticing environments to reproduce and nest. If you start seeing pests during the day you likely have a large infestation in your household.

It’s important to keep an eye out for the signs and ensure if you spot these signs you call us for the professional pest control treatment. The signs can slightly differ depending on the pest, but some key signs include:
– Droppings
– Sickly smell
– Running, chewing or scratching noises
– Evidence or chewing damage including chewed labels or teeth marks

We’re not trying to scare you by bringing these health problems to your attention, but it’s important to let you know the risks of pests. If you’re not already familiar, check out our other recent blog ‘Pest Control Tips While Working From Home’ for some helpful tips on mitigating the risk of household pests. Remember though, these tips alone won’t suffice in the long term, regular professional pest control is a necessity for every household.

If you want to find more detailed information on household pests, check out the Department of Health website: https://www.health.gov.au/

Pest Control is an essential service and as such Hitman is ready to take your booking, our trained technicians take all proper precautions to provide this essential service in a safe manner. We can treat inside and outside for cockroaches, silverfish, ants and spiders. We do inside the ceiling and any garages, sheds, barbeque areas or cubby houses you have on your property. We also offer a full 12-month service warranty on each of these pests. Hitman, make it easy.