What are the health risks of a mice infestation?

Even though some people think that mice are cute – don’t be fooled! The risks of a mice infestation outweigh the cuteness any day. In addition to causing damage to your home, the health risks of a mice infestation can be serious. There are many reasons you should take steps to remove them as soon as you notice one.

Rodents Bite

While rodent bites are not common, they do happen. In addition to being painful, a rodent bite can carry disease. Some of the diseases they can transmit include:

• Arenavirus
• Bartonellosis (Trench fever)
• Hantavirus (very common in rat bites)
• Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis
• The Plague (yes, you read that right!)
• Salmonellosis

You may think it’s easy to avoid a rodent bite. However, their disease can also be transmitted through contact with their blood, feces, or urine. If you think: “Well, I would never be in contact with those things.” Think again. Below are just two of many ways you can come into contact with bodily fluids from mice.

Tainted Food

Tainted food is one of the most common ways to get sick from a mice infestation. Mice, like humans, need to eat! Mice will do anything they can to get to food, and they eat just about anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s rice, cereal, chips, tuna in pouches, and so on. If the mouse is hungry, they will eat it.

When a mouse gets into your pantry, its body comes into contact with your food. Unfortunately, the mouse’s body could be covered in saliva, urine, or feces. Now imagine pouring a bowl of cereal and eating it. Pretty disgusting.

Unintentionally eating food that has come into contact with a rodent is one of the most common health risks of a mice infestation. According to the CDC, eating food that a mouse has come into contact with can cause Tularemia, Rate Bite Fever, and other diseases.

If you think you have mice or rats in your home, contact Budget Brothers. In the meantime, use airtight containers to store your food. It won’t guarantee that they can’t get into it, but it’s a safety precaution until you schedule the professionals to handle your mice infestation.

Contaminated Air

Even if you are taking every precaution when it comes to mice in your home, you can still get sick. You don’t have to eat the food they contaminated or even have a mouse bite you. Simply breathing in the air when it’s tainted with their urine droppings or feces is enough to make a person sick.

Cleaning up after a mouse can lead to contaminated air. This can cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and Hemorrhagic Fever. If you suspect rodents living in your home, call the professionals to safely handle the removal.

Mice Love Chewing

Just like a brand-new puppy, mice love to chew on things! In addition to making you sick, a mice infestation can destroy your home. From tiny bite marks to more devastating damages, like electrical fires, mice need immediate attention.

Mice love to chew on wires, and they also like to remove insulation from your walls to build nests. Now imagine a big puffy nest of insulation with a mouse chewing on a wire next to it. It’s like driving down the highway with chains dragging during a drought. One little spark and your house could start on fire.

Beyond starting fires, mice can also destroy wood, plastic pipes, gas lines, aluminum, and more. Mice have teeth that are constantly growing. Chewing on items around your house helps them wear down their teeth. They aren’t picky when it comes to what materials to chew.

If you see signs of a mice infestation in or around your home, do not wait, call Budget Brothers today. Mice reproduce quickly, and a small problem can multiply fast.