How to avoid pest infestations during COVID-19

by Kevin Smith Author

The Department of Homeland Security declared pest control as an essential service to keep empty buildings and occupied business establishments hygienic and free from pest infestations—that pest control professionals can only provide to keep up with required safety protective gears and protocols with the right sanitation treatments.

Pest Infestations listed to be eliminated

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a list of pests that are prioritized to be eliminated such as bed bugs, flies, rats, and cockroaches as they can highly compromise health and sanitation—which is basically the prime concern while we are battling with the Covid-19 pandemic. The control of these disease vectors such as insects and rodents is necessary for the maintenance of health and healthful conditions as recommended by the World Health Organization.

Bed bugs - Bed bugs may have not been proven to spread viruses but people need to know that they can spread parasites. In a certain study, bed bugs are found to particularly transmit the T. cruzi parasite, which causes a deadly illness called Chagas disease.

To top that, an article claimed that bed bugs could trigger mental illness among humans. As per scientific study, certain individuals have suffered from severe depression, anxiety, or even PTSD due to high stress levels and lack of sleep.

Flies - Aside from being known vectors of E. coli and Salmonella, flies are highly stigmatized to be really unsanitary and filthy, contaminating food and water.

As per the World Health Organization, Flies can spread diseases because they feed freely on human food and filthy matter. The fly picks up disease-causing organisms while crawling and feeding. Those that stick to the outside surfaces of the fly may survive for only a few hours, but those that are ingested with the food may survive in the fly’s crop or gut for several days. Transmission takes place when the fly makes contact with people or their food. Most of the diseases can also be contracted more directly through contaminated food, water, air, hands and person-to-person contact. This reduces the relative importance of flies as carriers of disease.

Rats - Rats and mice are well established at deserted buildings or garbage dumps. Rats have been vectors for many diseases and have spread epidemics of plague. In addition to plague, murine typhus, salmonellosis, trichinosis, leptospirosis, and rat bite fever are known to be spread by rats. To simply put it, rats are mainly controlled because they can carry diseases, do gnawing damage to property, and their droppings are also known to contaminate food for human consumption.
Cockroaches - Cockroaches are considered to be a dangerous allergen source and asthma trigger. They may also carry certain bacteria that can cause illnesses if left on food or water. Cockroaches carry bacteria that, if deposited on food, can cause salmonella, staphylococcus, and streptococcus.

Cockroaches are ultimately considered by WHO as “unhygienic scavengers in human settlements.” They can cause intestinal diseases, such as dysentery, diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever. In short, they are highly prioritized to be controlled to halt the spread of asthma, allergy, and also food contamination.

Underrated Pest Infestation Cause

The pests mentioned above are highly controlled and repressed to avoid worsening the conditions while we are still battling from the current Covid-19 pandemic. These invasive pests and rodents can cause us yet another problem or epidemic which is not at all welcome to be added in our plates as another health threat.

The Fight Must Go On

Due to the series of state lockdowns, missing sanitation steps from restaurants and business establishments contribute to the rapid increase in numbers of pests. While we proceed with controlling the Covid-19 virus, these pests are not going to cooperate with the state of lock down—hence, the fight must go on for pest control companies to eradicate and terminate these pest infestations before a new epidemic could arise.