KEEP HOME CLEAN, KEEP OUT PESTS
Cockroaches, rats and flies are carriers of dangerous diseases
PEST swarming a home can be quite a nuisance, not to mention downright embarrassing.
What can be more cringe-worthy than having a bunch of colleagues over for lunch, only to have a brown, shiny, pregnant cockroach climbing the wall in the background?
Perhaps it is for this reason that more and more people are turning to street vendors to find more potent solutions to control household pests.
The street pesticide business is booming of late, and literally every second corner you look, there are vendors who claim to offer the latest, most potent, effective and guaranteed way to get rid of cockroaches and rats in your home.
But how safe are these products? Could you potentially be putting your and your children’s health in jeopardy by buying these products?
We spoke to Dr Cindy Stephen, director of the Poisons Information Centre at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. Stephen gave parents a stern warning about the use of street pesticides, and how harmful they can be in the home.
But first, Stephen explains how these pests invade our homes.
COCKROACHES
Stephen says that despite popular belief that cockroaches are only attracted to the food in your home, there may be other areas of your home they find comfortable.
“Cockroaches are attracted by habitation, especially where food is stored, processed, prepared or served.
“They seek not only our food, but also putrefied and decaying matter, virulent discharges and faeces. Cockroaches readily move from garbage disposal areas, to sewers, to toilets, to food ready for consumption,” she says.
For most people, cockroaches are seen as more of a nuisance than actually causing any physical harm to them. But can cockroaches be harmful to one’s health?
“The importance of domestic cockroaches as public health pests, especially as vectors of disease, is somewhat uncertain.
“Although many pathogenic organisms have been isolated from cockroaches, there is only circumstantial evidence to link diseases in human beings to the causal agents of those disorders known to be present on and in cockroaches closely associated with humans.”
That said, there have been reported incidents where cockroaches were reported to have triggered allergic reactions and asthma attacks, especially in children.
GET TO KNOW THE ROACH
A cockroach can live almost a month without food. Yes, that means that “starving them” by ensuring that food is locked away may not be so effective.
A cockroach can live about two weeks without water.
Some female cockroaches can stay pregnant for life! That would explain why you cannot seem to get rid of them.
A cockroach can live for up to one week without its head. Yes, that means coyly stepping on a cockroach may not be enough to kill it.
Cockroaches can run up to three miles (4.8km) an hour. This is the reason they seem to disappear immediately when the light switch comes on.
Stephen says the best way to get rid of cockroaches in the home is to maintain environmental sanitation, hygiene and improved socioeconomic conditions, plus the use of safe pesticides.
RATS
Rats are known to love to eat, and will munch on just about anything.
They are scavengers; that’ show they eventually make their way to your home, where there is food, wood and anything they can chew on. Dr Stephen says rats are potentially disease carriers, and that one should be vigilant of them.
“Rats carry various bacteria and viruses which may cause disease in humans, such as leptospirosis and plague, which is carried by the fleas on rats.”
GET TO KNOW THE RAT
Rats can chew through glass. Rats have an excellent memory, and sense of smell and taste. They have been known to deliberately avoid rat poison.
Rats are excellent swimmers, and can swim for three days without drowning.
Rats can crawl through the tiniest hole, to the size of the R5 coin.
The best way to get rid of rats is to ensure that all cracks and holes in your home are closed, maintaining good hygiene, storing away food and safe pesticides.
FLIES
Nothing can be more irritating than the buzz of a fly.
According to Stephen, flies can spread serious diseases.
“Flies can spread enteric diseases such as cholera, salmonella and E Coli because they feed freely on human food and waste.”
GET TO KNOW THE FLY
Flies taste with their feet Flies only feed on liquids, but they can turn solid food into liquid by spitting or vomiting on it.
Keep your home clean; consider using fine mesh screen on doors and windows to prevent them gaining access to your home.