What Are The Common Diseases Caused By Pests
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- 25-11-2021

What are the common diseases caused by pests? If you are concerned about a pest infestation on your property, you need to understand the dangers involved. We look at the health problems caused by common pests in the UK.
Health Issues by Pests
Pests such as insect caused, microbes, birds and rodents can trigger and spread an array of deadly and potentially fatal diseases. Pesticides can be sometimes used in order to help control any unwanted pests, reducing the impact they have on public health. Some pests can cause significant problems for public health, such as:
Vector-Borne diseases include infectious diseases like Lyme disease, rabies and Zika virus that are carried and spread by rodents, ticks, mosquitoes and others.
Asthma and allergies that are triggered by indoor household pests like cockroaches.
Numerous microorganisms and acellular particles cause microbial diseases, and infections such as viruses, bacteria, protozoans, prions can cause microbial diseases and illnesses.
What are Rodent-Borne Diseases
Rodents can reproduce at an alarming rate when the conditions are right, meaning their population increases rapidly.
Human populated environments are perfect for rodents such as rats and mice to thrive in due to the food and shelter that is provided. Rodents have become serious pests, especially in the food sector, as rodent encounters can be dangerous as well as detrimental to a business.
Other rodents that are well known for having close contact with humans are squirrels, voles, prairie dogs, lemmings and groundhogs.

Diseases caused by rodents
Rodents are said to have caused more deaths than any wars have throughout the last thousand years and can carry an array of different organisms that cause diseases, including viruses, bacteria, helminths, and protozoa.
Rodents can also be reservoirs or vectors for several diseases through their ectoparasites like lice, ticks, mites and fleas.
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Salmonellosis

Leptospirosis

Weil's disease

Plague
Ticks
Ticks can transmit many diseases like tick-borne meningoencephalitis, Lyme disease, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tick-borne spotted fevers tularemia, ehrlichiosis and babesiosis. Tick bites can also cause an inflammation reaction.

Rat-bite fever

Tularemia

Bartonellosis

Hantavirus

Arenaviruses
Diseases transmitted by insects and ticks
A few of these diseases are now extremely rare due to hygiene and vaccinations progress. Others that had almost disappeared previously are making a comeback. Finally, others diseases are spreading because of climate change. The most common of these diseases are as follows:

Toxoplasmosis

Rat tapeworm

Echinococcosis

Capillariasis

Trichinellosis
Lyme disease
Lyme disease is spread through tick bites. The risk of contamination after a bite is between 1 - 6% depending on the tick region.
The disease will start with a skin lesion of a reddish colour centred around the bite. The redness will gradually spread and then disappear in the space of a few days or weeks. In the following weeks, more symptoms can appear that involve joint pain, nervous system paralysis, abnormalities with the heart rhythm and other possible symptoms. Antibiotics are the typical treatment; however, hospital admission may be necessary for more severe cases.

Insects and ticks that spread disease

Flies, midges

Mosquitoes

Bed bugs

Lice, fleas
Tick-borne meningoencephalitis virus
Tick-borne meningoencephalitis is a central nervous system disease transmitted by a tick bite. The first stage of the disease consists of a flu-like state and happens after around seven days of incubation. It usually lasts from 2 to 4 days.
If the second stage occurs, it will show a varying severity of neurological signs and appear ten days later. Generally, the disease will progress towards recovery, and the rate of mortality is only 1%. You can get a vaccine to prevent this virus.

Chikungunya virus
Malaria
Malaria is a virus that is exceptionally prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions globally. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitos and is a severe cause for concern with travellers due to its potentially fatal results.
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