Commit to Family Home Pest Control to Keep Everyone Healthy
March 9th, 2010 Posted in Organic & Chemical Pesticides
When the ground begins to thaw and you hear birds tweeting again, this can only mean one thing. Spring is on the way and summer is not far behind.
When your family starts heading outside this summer, this opens the door for pests which harbor diseases to head inside, also.
Practice family home pest control to keep bugs and their viruses outside where they belong.
Three diseases transmitted by pests are:
Malaria
What Is Malaria
Malaria is a dangerous and serious disease passed onto people from mosquito bites. Although rare, about 1,500 cases of malaria are reported each year in the United States. Mosquitoes are infected by a parasite which in turn passes malaria onto humans.
Which Pests Transmits Malaria
Species of mosquitoes from the Anopheles genus (but only the females) infected with a parasite transmits malaria.
When that mosquito bites a human, the parasite mixes with the insect’s saliva and is injected into the next person.
Symptoms of Malaria
1 to 2 weeks after a person is infected, these symptoms start to appear:
- Fever
- Headache
- Chills
- Vomiting
Treatment
If treated properly, malaria is not deadly. But if treatment is not received, malaria infects and destroys a person’s red blood cells. Malaria also can clog the capillaries which carry blood to the brain and other organs.
How to Prevent Malaria
Although the most deadly types of malaria exist mostly in Africa, you can never be too careful. Always wear repellent outside and use family home pest control, such as a flying insect killer, to attack any mosquitoes that do find their way inside your house.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
What is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial infection passed to humans by tick bites.
Which Pests Transmits Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
In the western United States, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is transmitted by the wood tick. In the eastern part of the country, the American dog tick transmits the disease. In the southern US, other ticks such as the brown dog tick can pass along the disease. If one of these ticks in your region bites you, you are at risk for Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Signs of an infection usually occur within the first week, but sometimes don’t show for 14 days. Signs include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache and sensitivity to light
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Red spotted or blotchy rash on wrists and/or ankles
Treatment
Although it is typically fairly mild, the sooner you treat Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the better. Remove the tick from your skin then take antibiotics for 7 to 10 days (take them at least 3 days after your fever and other symptoms subside).
How to Prevent Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
When outside, wear long sleeves and pants, as well as repellent, to protect from ticks. Also, with doors swinging open and shut, ticks can make their way inside the home. Use family home pest control, including an organic pesticide spray, and you can kill any that find their way into your home.
Lyme Disease
What Is Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is an acute inflammatory disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Blackegged ticks infected with the bacterium pass it to humans through a bite.
Which Pests Transmit Malaria
The bacterium that causes lyme disease lives in mice, squirrels and other small wild animals. When a tick bites infected animals then a human, lyme disease is transferred to the human population.
However, only the black-legged (or deer tick) species are transmitters of lyme disease.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease
When a person is infected, these symptoms appear:
- Fever
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Skin rash (called erythema migrans) which often resembles a bulls eye
Treatment
If these symptoms arise, a few weeks of antibiotics should clear up the problem easily.
But if left untreated, the disease can spread to joints, the heart and even the nervous system.
How to Prevent Lyme Disease
The best way to prevent lyme disease is to use insect repellent when outside and family home pest control when you spot one in your home.
For all 3 of these diseases, prevention with family home pest control is the best way to protect yourself and your family.
Although it may seem this way, this article was not meant to scare you into staying inside all summer. It is meant to make you aware of some of dangers of improper family home pest control.
Protect your family and your home this summer with the best home pest control to enjoy a blissful summer.
