Health Concerns of Pests – Part 5

 

Health Concerns of Pests – Part 5

This Health Concerns Post Series breaks down some of the most common pests and the various medical issues they can cause. In this blog, we breakdown: rodents.

The Relations Between Rodents and Disease

Rats and mice are known for spreading over 35 different diseases worldwide. Depending on the type of disease and particular species of rodent, these diseases can be spread either directly or indirectly to humans. Rodents are notorious for climbing around in garbage and slinking through sewers… eventually finding their way into homes and businesses. As rats and mice scurry through homes, they defecate, urinate and leave behind saliva, contaminating everything they touch. Coming into contact with these rodent excrements, or even direct contact with the rodents themselves are means of direct disease transmission. When rodents pass diseases indirectly, the transmission is due to parasitic insects and arachnids such as ticks, mites, and fleas. These parasites feed on the infected rodents then, once they are in the vicinity of humans, switch hosts, thereby passing the pathogens from the rodents to the human. The following are breakdowns of a few of the most notable diseases passed by rodents:

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Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Rodents: Rats and Mice

Agent: Virus’ (there are a variety of different hantavirus’)

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Direct

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Breathing airborne debris from infected rodents
  • Rodent bites
  • Direct contact with rodent excrements

Symptoms:

  • Fever
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle Soreness/Aches
  • Chills
  • Intense Stomach Pain
  • Nausea, Vomiting, and or Diarrhea
  • Dizziness

Danger: This debilitating virus can infect a person’s respiratory system, kidneys, or blood and, in some serious cases, is fatal.

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Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCM)

Rodents: Mice

Agent: Virus (the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV))

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Direct

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Breathing airborne debris from infected rodents
  • Rodent bites
  • Direct contact with rodent excrements

Symptoms:

  • Fatigue
  • Sore Throat
  • Lack of Appetite
  • Fever
  • Cough
  • Aching Muscles and Joints
  • Headaches
  • Nausea and/or Vomiting
  • Salivary Gland Pain

When the virus advances to the second stage, it begins to attack the neurological centers of the body causing some highly debilitating symptoms:

  • Intense Headache
  • Neck Stiffness
  • Intense Drowsiness
  • Confusion
  • Sensory Disturbances
  • Abnormalities in Motor Functions
  • Paralysis
  • Acute Muscle Weakness

Danger: In more extreme cases, infected individuals can experience inflammation of the brain or spinal cord, increased fluid on the brain, or even inflammation of the heart muscles. While these are highly concerning and dramatic symptoms, LCM is not typically fatal with a death count under 1% with respect to reported cases.

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Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS)

Rodents: Rats and Mice

Agent: Virus (this is a subfamily of Hantavirus’ that includes nephropathia epidemica, Korean hemorrhagic fever, and epidemic hemorrhagic fever)

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Direct

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Breathing airborne debris from infected rodents
  • Rodent bites
  • Direct contact with rodent excrements
  • *transmission amongst humans is possible, though rather rare and even these cases are caused by exposure to infected mice or rats*

Symptoms:

  • Intense Headaches
  • Abdominal Pain and Nausea
  • Back Pain
  • Rashes
  • Fever or Chills
  • Blurred Vision
  • Flushing of the Face
  • Redness or Inflammation of the Eyes

To more drastic and life-threatening symptoms including:

  • Low Blood Pressure
  • Vascular Leakage
  • Kidney Failure
  • Acute Shock
  • Severe Fluid Overload

Danger: Due to the vast varieties of the disease, a mortality rate for cases is difficult to nail down however the average seems to be between 1%-15% of cases are potentially fatal.

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Lassa Fever

Rodents: Rats

Agent: Virus (Lassa virus of the arenavirus family)

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Direct

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Breathing airborne debris from infected rodents
  • Rodent bites
  • Direct contact with rodent excrements
  • Eating rodent contaminated food

Symptoms:

  • Weakness/malaise
  • Headaches
  • Sore Throat
  • Chest pain
  • Nausea and or Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Cough
  • Muscle Pain
  • Abdominal Pain

Danger: The most common complication of this rodent-transmitted virus is deafness, which can even occur in less severe cases. Out of all patients that are hospitalized for Lassa Fever, the CDC reports that 15-20% of these patients succumb to the illness under hospital care.

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Lyme Disease

Rodents: Mice

Agent: Bacteria (Borrelia burdoferi)

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Indirect (Vector: Ticks)

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Bite from an infected tick

Symptoms: Early symptoms include:

  • Fever or chills
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle and joint aches
  • Rash
  • Headaches
  • Erythema Migrans rash

Following the earlier symptoms of the disease, between several days to a few months after exposure to the bacteria, symptoms can escalate to include:

  • Severe headaches and neck stiffness
  • Facial palsy (droopy face muscles)
  • Sever joint pain and swelling
  • Spreading of Erythema Migrans rash to other areas of the body
  • Various bodily aches and pains
  • Irregular heart beats
  • Arthritis
  • Nerve pain
  • Dizziness
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Shooting pain, tingling, or numbness in the limbs
  • Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord

Danger: Thankfully, if treated early, a victim of Lyme disease can fully recover between 2 to 4 weeks with antibiotics. However, some symptoms of the disease have been known to linger for 6-12 months following the contraction of the bacteria whether the person has been healed or not. Furthermore, in some serious cases where treatment was not available quickly enough, patients can suffer from long term damage to their joints or nervous systems.

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Black Plague

Rodents: Rats

Agent: Bacteria (Yersinia pestis)

Direct or Indirect Transmission: Direct and Indirect (Vector: Fleas)

How Transmission Occurs:

  • Bite from an infected flea
  • Direct contact with infected rats

Symptoms: The symptoms of the black plague differ depending on how the bacteria enters and affects the victim’s body. The three most common clinical forms of the plague are Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague, and Pneumonic Plague. Bubonic Plague Symptoms:

  • High fever with quick onset
  • Severe headaches
  • Chills
  • Malaise/general weakness
  • Painfully swollen lymph nodes (often referred to as buboes)

Septicemic Plague Symptoms:

  • High fever
  • Chills
  • Sever malaise/bodily weakness
  • Shock
  • Abdominal pain
  • Internal bleeding
  • Necrosis (tissue death)

Pneumonic Plague Symptoms:

  • High fever
  • Headaches
  • Weakness
  • Shortness of breath
  • Severe chest pain
  • Cough
  • Bloody or watery mucous
  • Rapid onset of pneumonia
  • Respiratory failure
  • Shock

Danger: While the plague is mainly perceived as a historical illness infamous for killing millions of people, it is unfortunately still in existence today. Although, thankfully, our modern medicine can now treat the bacteria if caught early enough. Those who contract the disease and do not seek treatment following the appearance of symptoms, can actually die within a week, so it is important to be vigilant about any symptoms of illness you may experience when you are aware of fleas in your home.

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Citations

Health Hazards Posed by Rodents (2014) Pest World. National Pest Management Association. Available at: https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-health-hub/health-hazards-posed-by-rodents/ (Accessed: June 2020).

Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) (2017) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/hfrs/index.html (Accessed: June 2020).

Lassa Fever (2019) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and The Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology – Viral Special Pathogens Branch. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/index.html (Accessed: January 27, 2021).

Lyme Disease (2020) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and The Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html (Accessed: January 27, 2021).

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCM): Signs and Symptoms (2014) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lcm/symptoms/index.html(Accessed: June 2020).

Plague (2020) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and The Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/plague/index.html (Accessed: January 27, 2021).

Prevention and Control: Fleas (N/A) Illinois Department of Public Health. The Division of Environmental Health. Available at: http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcfleas.htm (Accessed: May 2020).

Rodents (2010) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases and the Division of High-COnsequence Pathogens and Pathology. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/index.html (Accessed: January 27, 2021).

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