Cockroaches are one of the nasty pests on the planet that can contaminate food and spread disease-causing germs. Cockroaches have been found to carry the pathogens that can cause asthma attacks, cholera, tuberculosis, leprosy, and more. Cockroaches can live without food for up to a month but they do need water which is why these pests love to live in your kitchen drains and washroom pipes and it is a very normal thing because cockroaches are present everywhere and are a part of every home.
Leprosy is a bacterial infection that causes severe skin sores and nerve damage in the legs, arms, and other skin areas and the major reason behind this disease is a cockroach bite. So it is quite clear that cockroach bite can cause leprosy.
How do cockroaches spread disease?
Cockroaches can move freely from one building to another building or from sewers, latrines, garbage, and drains to human habitations. It is very easy for these dirty pests to spread germs as they are traveling from many nasty and filthy places and are carrying germs on their bodies with them which they pickup from latrines, drains, dumps and garbage including many disgusting things like human feces.
Cockroaches do not transmit diseases directly to humans through bites like ticks and mosquitoes except leprosy but they spread a range of diseases indirectly just like houseflies they spread diseases in humans by contaminating their food and places with germs which they pickup from many filthy places. If the air supply is contaminated with dust containing particles of cockroach vomit, dried saliva, feces or skin shed and that air is inhaled by people suffering from asthma then such patients can have an asthma attack which is quite dangerous also if someone touches surfaces or items that are contaminated with microorganisms deposited by roaches then in such case transmission of disease can also occur.
Can roaches contaminate water?
If cockroaches can contaminate food then they can also contaminate water. These filthy pests can contaminate anything where ever they crawl because of the germs carried by them on their bodies from filthy places. These bugs are one of the major contributors to allergies and other diseases, especially in children. Contaminated water is one of the common sources to spread diseases. Cockroaches are water lovers so they are mostly found in wet places. Water attracts cockroaches. Although cockroaches cannot swim in the water they can float on it and can contaminate it. Cockroaches can close their respiratory organs when they’re in water due to which they can travel through water easily.
What diseases are caused by cockroaches?
As it is described above that cockroach is one of the filthy bugs that carry germs with itself which it picks up from dirty places and transfers those germs on surfaces, food, water, and other items where it crawls. Some of the diseases are due to a cockroach bite like leprosy but many diseases are due to contamination of food and water, which are sometimes dangerous for those who have a weak immune system and if such critical diseases are untreated then it can also lead to death.
Cockroaches play a supplementary role in the spread of many diseases. They are one of the suspected carriers of the microorganisms causing many diseases some of them are listed below.
- Diarrhea: The disease in which feces are discharged continually in a liquid form.
- Typhoid fever: The disease in which a person is suffering from high fever including abdominal pain, headache, and either diarrhea or constipation.
- Leprosy: Bacterial infection that causes severe skin sores and nerve damage in the legs, arms, and other skin areas.
- Plague:It is an infectious disease that includes fever, weakness, and headache.
- Cholera:An infectious disease that causes serious watery diarrhea which leads to dehydration and can also be a cause death if not treated properly.
- Dysentery:It is an inflammation in the intestine which can lead to mild or extreme stomach cramps and terrible diarrhea with blood coming in feces.
- Campylobacteriosis: Is an infection that produces inflammatory or sometimes bloody diarrhea or dysentery syndrome including severe stomach cramps and fever.
- Gastroenteritis: The disease in which there is an inflammation in the lining of intestines.
- Salmonellosis: Sort of infection involves vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever.
- Listeriosis: Infection which involves fever, muscle aches, nausea, or diarrhea.
- Giardia:It is a disease that causes diarrheal illness.
- Asthma:A disease in which a person has provoked airways in the lungs.
- Tuberculosis:The disease in which bacteria attacks on the lungs.
