If you’ve noticed gnawing on cereal boxes, or tiny droppings dotting the shelves of your pantry, you likely have a rat problem. Rats also love the insulation lining your attic, which makes perfect nesting material.
Rodents like the rat used to be more prevalent during the winter months when they sought shelter from the cold. But, as the population has grown, rat control has become a year-round problem, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
You can help prevent rat infestation by making sure your home or business is sealed off – rats only need an opening of half an inch or larger to gain access to a building—and also by keeping food areas tidy and keeping all food stored in sealed containers. But if this doesn’t help your rat infestation, you need to call professional rat control services.
Rats don’t have a particularly good reputation, as common carriers of disease and contamination of food. Worldwide, rats and mice are known to spread over 35 diseases. Among the more serious of diseases is rat-bite fever.
Rat-bite fever is a bacterial illness that can be transmitted through the bite or a scratch by a rodent or by ingesting food or water contaminated with rodent feces. This most commonly occurs though a bite, but simple contact with their secretions from the nose, eye, or mouth of the rodent or their urine can transmit it as well. It is not contagious from one person to another. Rat-bite fever can be treated with common antibiotics, but left untreated, has a 25% death rate.
Protect yourself from the potential to get rat-bite fever by eliminating rats from your home. If you have a rat problem, take care of it immediately, with a rat control expert.