Pest Borne Diseases: Hantavirus

February 22, 2019


If you have rodents at home, do not take chances! Do not try to live with them. Mickey Mouse might be cute, but these are no Mickey. Rodents are dangerous, and by not taking action to get rid of them, you are indeed taking chances with your family’s health.

Why? Because these rodents carry with them a lot of diseases. Among these diseases are the plague, rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, and the potential life-threatening hantavirus, which we are about to cover in this article.

Understanding The Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)

The Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a severe respiratory disease caused by the hantavirus infection and is at times fatal. If you come into contact with a rodent that is infected by this virus, then you will be at risk. Humans become infected through exposure or inhalation of rodent urine, droppings, or saliva. Rodent infestation in and around the home is the main reason for exposure and to this virus.

How People Get The Hantavirus

Aside from those stated above, there are other ways humans get the hantavirus:

1. When the rodent bites a human and the rodent is infected with the virus, transmission is possible.  

2. It is believed that touching something that has been contaminated with rodent droppings, urine, or saliva and then touching your nose or mouth can transfer the virus.  

3. Eating food that is contaminated by rodent droppings, urine, or saliva can also transfer the virus.

It is important to note that statistically, people who do these activities are the ones infected by the hantavirus. So if you do at least one of these, please take extra precaution:

1. Cleaning your home puts you at risk, especially if you already have the rodents at home. This way, you can accidentally touch or inhale droppings, urine, or saliva.

2. Cleaning old and unused garages, barns, or any old buildings puts you at risk. Rodents may have gotten to these first and have made it their homes too.

3. If you are the type who loves the great outdoors and are always camping or hiking, be careful. You might be camping in a rodent-infested camp or trail.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing a case of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome at its beginning is quite difficult. Early symptoms are fever, muscle aches, and fatigue, but these symptoms are commonly found in influenza too. Misdiagnosis is pretty common. Last year, a North Dakota woman died from the hantavirus after being misdiagnosed with the flu. One thing that could spell the difference is proper disclosure of whether there is potential rodent contact together with shortness of breath. Seek immediate medical attention once these symptoms occur.

There is no specific cure for this disease, but if detected early and brought to the Intensive Care Unit for medical attention, the patient will do just fine.

Prevention

Now you know the dangers of having rodents around, do not take the risks. If you see rodents inside your outside your home, call in the best pest control company near you: Go-Forth Pest Control Company.

Go-Forth has a team of highly-skilled, well- trained, professional pest technicians who can get the job done. They use only family friendly and pet friendly methods with state of the art equipment that will effectively rid your house of these dangerous rodents.

To set an appointment, just contact us and let’s talk about your pest problem.




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