The sight of cockroaches at home or in a business can be alarming. Not only are these pests unsightly, but they can also spread disease and pose other potential health risks. Read on to learn more about cockroach diseases.
Cockroaches are synonymous with dirt, filth, and poor hygiene. Their feeding and nesting habits mean they can easily ingest and carry a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites on their bodies. This can contaminate food and surfaces, causing illnesses or deterioration of food products.
For businesses, cockroaches can have a negative impact on both staff health and retention. Those operating within the food industry could also experience a breach in food safety laws, product recall, closures, and financial loss. Commercial pest control can help limit cockroach infestations.
Cockroaches can be responsible for spreading a wide range of infectious diseases, but they do so indirectly. Unlike mosquitoes, which transmit pathogens through bites, cockroaches contaminate surfaces, utensils, and food by contact. This happens when pathogens from decaying matter, fecal material, or sewage stick to their legs and bodies.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Cockroaches are not usually the most important cause of a disease, but like houseflies, they play a supplementary role in the spread of some diseases.”
Various species, such as German cockroach (Blattella germanica), American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana), Oriental cockroaches (Blatta orientalis), and brown-banded cockroaches (Supella longipalpa), have all been found to carry pathogens like leprae, salmonella, typhi, and Entamoeba histolytica, which can lead to diarrhea, food poisoning, and bacillary infections. The presence of these pests should never be ignored, especially in food preparation or storage areas.
Cockroaches are suspected carriers of the organisms that cause the following diseases and infections:
Cockroaches can also trigger asthma and other allergies as well as spread E. coli, staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus. If you’ve been in contact with cockroaches and are worried about any symptoms, speak to a healthcare professional immediately.
Cockroaches harbor organisms that can cause disease. They can spread these diseases through their droppings, saliva, or by touching surfaces directly.
Due to their unsanitary eating habits, cockroaches can pass harmful pathogens through their droppings. When a cockroach feasts on something contaminated, such as a raw piece of chicken or animal feces, the organism will enter and may lay dormant in their digestive system. The pathogen will then be excreted in cockroach droppings and can contaminate surfaces and food. Droppings may be found behind your kitchen drawers and under your kitchen counters.
Cockroach saliva is also responsible for spreading a range of diseases. Similar to droppings, saliva can harbor pathogens accumulated from eating contaminated items.
Cockroaches can be found living in sewers, cesspits, drains, and garbage bins where they come into contact with a range of organisms, such as bacteria and viruses. The legs of a cockroach have spines that are sensitive to touch and provide a very large surface area with which to pick up pathogens. Anything a cockroach touches or rubs past may become contaminated.
You can catch a disease from a cockroach in a range of different ways. But for the most part, cockroach diseases are caught by coming into contact with items that a cockroach has contaminated.
This is the most common form of transmission of a disease from a cockroach. You can either catch a disease through consuming food contaminated by cockroaches, or by eating or drinking something that has been made using contaminated cooking utensils, cutlery or crockery, or touched contaminated surfaces.
If the air supply is contaminated with proteins from cockroach feces, vomit, or shed skin, and this is inhaled by people suffering from asthma, an attack can be triggered.
Touching a contaminated item and then touching your eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound can let the pathogen enter your body, leading to an infection.
One way to prevent cockroaches from spreading diseases in your home or business is to reduce the possibility of these crawling insects entering your property. The best way to do this is to enlist the necessary cockroach control methods.
You can help prevent diseases spread by cockroaches by:
Cockroach allergy was first reported in 1943. It was discovered when patients developed a rash after cockroaches crawled on their skin. Cockroaches can trigger asthma because they have certain proteins in their bodies which can be an allergen for some people. When tiny particles from cockroach bodies are spread through the air in buildings, these proteins are inhaled, and an asthma attack can be triggered in sensitive people.
The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports that the saliva, feces, and shed skin of cockroaches can trigger both asthma and other allergic responses.
The National Pest Management Association has carried out studies on cockroach allergens and residential homes. These studies show that around 63% of homes in the U.S. contain allergens.1
The WHO estimates that 250 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. Some 60–80% of inner-city children with asthma are sensitized to cockroaches based on the skin prick testing. The potential risk to asthma sufferers is clear.2
The best way to reduce the risk of cockroach diseases is to enlist the help of a professional pest control technician. With over 100 years of experience, Western Exterminator provides a range of services and solutions to help both prevent and eliminate cockroach infestations.
Contact us online or call us at 877-655-6682 for any cockroach-related questions or to prevent cockroaches in your home or business.
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