Should You Be Concerned About A Rodent Infestation In Your Home Or Business?
Field mice can be cute as long as they stay in the fields. Spotting a mouse inside your business facilities is anything but cute. Mice and other rodents are known for ruining stored food, chewing through property, and spreading serious diseases, but many people are unaware of how much damage rodents can cause. Are they really a cause for concern? Can rodents significantly impact your business’s operations? Can a rodent infestation negatively impact your life at home?
To answer these questions succinctly, yes. Also, yes and yes. Allow us to elaborate on why you should be concerned about a rodent infestation at home or at the office:
Rodents Will Destroy Your Inventory
Aside from the fact that rats and mice will stealthily travel throughout your house or warehouse searching for food sources, rodents have an unusual propensity for chewing through wood and plastic materials, and can easily destroy your stock and inventory. Even when they’re not gnawing on electrical wires or biting through storage containers, they can contaminate your goods with their waste and fur. For businesses, rodents can cause thousands of dollars in damaged inventory. For homeowners, the dollar value of rodent damage might not be as significant, but they can spoil food and cause property damage just as easily within residential settings.
Rodents Can Pose Serious Health Risks
This should be your biggest concern when it comes to rodents, whether they’re in your basement or in your processing plant: Rodents are a major health concern.
Rodents have been known to carry at least 25 diseases that pose serious health risks to humans, including rat bite fever, hantavirus, and the bubonic plague. While there is some evidence to suggest that black rats may have been wrongly accused of widely distributing the bubonic plague and killing 25 to 60 percent of the European population in the 14th century, they have not been completely exonerated from claims of filth and disease.
Mice and rats have been reported to cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), an airborne viral infection that is caused by breathing dust particles contaminated with rodent urine or droppings -- and keep in mind that one pair of mice can leave behind over 1,000 droppings in one week. Symptoms of HPS include nausea, muscle aches, fatigue, and fluid buildup in the lungs, which is fatal in approximately 40 percent of all reported cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also lists a plethora of other diseases that can be transmitted directly or indirectly by rats and rodents, such as rat-bite fever (Streptobacillus moniliformis), salmonellosis, tularemia, and scrub typhus.
Many of the bacterial and viral infections indirectly transmitted by rodents and other animals are attributed to the fact that these creatures are common hosts to fleas -- which is why some researchers still aren’t letting rats off the hook for carrying the bubonic plague. Fleas are a known vector to the Black Death-causing bubonic plague, as well as other diseases like typhus and cat scratch fever. Fleas from rodents have contributed to the cause of several typhus epidemics throughout the history of the United States, starting as early as 1837 in Philadelphia.
Are you concerned about rodents in your home or business facilities? Contact JP Pest Services for a free residential estimate or a free commercial consultation today. Our experienced professionals can eliminate pests and prevent them from spreading disease throughout your house or ruining your company’s reputation. Keep your family safe and your customers satisfied with a pest control plan from JP Pest Services.
