General Facts About Rodents and Disease Caused by them

In general rats and mice are called rodents and rodentia is the order of mammals. It is characterized by a single pair of insistently growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws which must be kept undersized by gnawing.

General facts about rodents:

Being a social animal there are some special features about these species. They are nocturnal and good climbers, hence they can cause countless nuisances and it is better to get them exterminated at the right time to avoid annoyance. The average life span of these rodents is one year. Spaced out from this they are a good jumper and swimmer and it takes 15-30 gm food and consumes about 30 gm water daily; coming to the range of movement it is just about 30-50m for rats, 5-10 m for mice.

Diseases caused by rodents:

Despite the fact that, plague and some other disease are often associated with rodents there are quite a lot of other diseases infected by these pests and one among them would be the Hantaviruses. Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium of the rodents; rat fleas noshing on a bacteria-infected rodent would transmit the disease to the next host through biting.

Spotted fever is yet another rickettsial disease that is caused by rickettsia-infected ticks. Urban typhus, a rickettsial disease transmitted by rat fleas. This diseases is also caused by the inhalation of dust or ingestion of food contaminated with flea excreta.

In what ways rodents are harmful?

The practice of contaminating everything they come across is found in rodents so with the droppings of it they are found to be hazardous and these droppings include urine hairs and several others. Case studies reveal that 20% of rats carry diseases called Leptospirosis which can be fatal to humans; Toxoplasmosis and Salmonella are yet other diseases that are very hazardous just like other fatal diseases. With their gnawing and burrowing habits they can inject several diseases and fatal fevers.

Since their teeth grow constantly they keep on nibbling at regular times as a result it causes considerable damage to items stored in the contaminated area. During the winter season this problem becomes unrelenting as the rats move indoors seeking food and shelter.

In order to get rid of this pest and for managing a rodent infestation, one can use methods like baiting, trapping and blocking holes.