What comes to mind when you think of essential services? We are seeing cities and states across the country enact policies to close down or limit the activity of non-essential services. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are clearly essential. Along with the banks, stores, and manufacturing centers that provide us with the supplies we depend on. Do you think of pest control as an essential service? Do you know what role pest control experts have in maintaining public health? The United States Department of Health considers pest control an essential service.
Why Pest Control Matters
Pest control is about much more than keeping your home or business free from unsightly bugs and insects. It’s about protecting you from the harm those pests can cause. Pest control services ensure public health by preventing the transmission of diseases by pests, and food source contamination. The importance of this kind of protection becomes vital when the resources of our medical professionals are tested, and we’re here to help by doing what we do best.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches can carry over 30 different kinds of harmful bacteria that can affect human health. Roaches are carriers of both E. Coli and Salmonella, and they also serve as carriers of parasitic worms. Although it’s something nobody likes to think about, as the dust from their bodies, urine, feces, and saliva becomes airborne their very existence and proximity to humans impacts our immune system and causes various allergies and asthma. These pests can invade our homes, our business, and the places where we store the food products we depend on to keep people fed.
Rodents
Pest control professionals like the technicians 855Bugs also work to prevent rodents from invading our homes, businesses, and manufacturing centers. Rodents are notorious vectors of disease and can directly transmit a long list of diseases such as Hantavirus, Leptospirosis that can lead to Meningitis, Tularemia, and as many people know rodents and the fleas that infested them were considered to be the leading cause of the spread of the Bubonic Plague. These animals are notorious for contaminating food and grain stores and can spread these diseases while compromising an estimated 20% of the world’s food supply each year.
Mosquitos
Here in Texas, we are all too familiar with mosquitos, and with spring fast approaching mosquitos will soon be returning in high numbers. Mosquitos transmit a large number of diseases through their saliva. The diseases they spread to humans in the United States include West Nile Virus and Zika virus, as well as Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
Fleas and Ticks
Fleas and ticks are an ever-present threat in Texas, and Ticks are most active in Texas between April and September. Ticks spread a multitude of diseases in the United States, from the better-known Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to diseases like the blood infection Babesiosis, flu-like Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis, as well Tularemia. Fleas are most active in Texas in the fall, and they transmit diseases like Murine typhus, Tungiasis, as well as Tularemia.
Bed Bugs and Kissing Bugs
Ask anyone that has had to deal with bed bugs, and you’ll know that they can quickly become a nightmare. They spread quickly and are notoriously difficult to eradicate. We have highly effective treatments to prevent and exterminate them. As problematic as they are, for years, people thought they could not spread or transmit disease. In 2014 a study by researchers at Penn State in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics demonstrated that bed bugs could transmit Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasite behind the infamous Chagas disease that’s known to be carried by “kissing” bugs adds another dimension to the danger of bed bugs.
We’ll Continue to Protect Our Community
None of this should incite fear, but it helps you be more aware of the potential problems pests can cause. After reading this article, you will understand why the United States Department of Health considers pest control professionals part of the essential services that keep our country healthy and running smoothly. The team at 855Bugs has the experience, tools, expertise, and dedication to ensure you don’t have to worry about pests. We are well-equipped and trained in PPE (personal protective equipment). You can rest assured we’ll follow every precaution while working to keep your life pest free. We’re following all CDC recommendations. All non-essential office employees are working from home, and any employee or employee with family members who appear to have any symptoms related to Covid-19 is prohibited from working. We’re routinely disinfecting our workspaces and equipment. You can count on us to continue to serve our area.
