Rodent Control - Problem

Spread of disease - A large proportion of the Common or Norway rat population in this country carry Leptospirosis. Contact with this rodent can lead to the potentially fatal Weil's disease in humans. It was also the Black rat, which was responsible for the plague, cases of which were still recorded in this country early this century, and remains a powerful hazard.

 

Food Contamination - Salmonellosis is a type of food poisoning, caused by the contamination of food or drink by rodent excreta or the passive transmission of the bacteria by rodents travelling from one place to another. Other diseases include rat-bite fever, lymphocytic choriomeningitis and murine typhus.

 

Parasites carried and transmitted by rodents include ringworm, mites, nematodes, tapeworms, ticks and fleas.

Property damage - A recent estimate said that 5% of world wide food production was lost to rodent activity, especially cereals, coconuts, sugar cane, oil palm, cocoa and other root crops.

 

Damage to structures - Caused by rodents gnawing and burrowing is a huge problem as Norway rats in particular can under mime foundations by burrowing. Rats burrowing between structural joints have extensively damaged drains and sewers. This can contribute to the collapse of roadways and pavements.

 

Lead pipes and electric cables are readily chewed by all rodents, which can lead to an interruption of services, electrical failures and fires, causing considerable damage and economic loss.