Cockroaches are arthropods capable of transmitting diseases, but unlike ticks and mosquitoes, which directly transmit pathogens through their bites, cockroaches, like flies,They only cause diseases indirectly due to their dirty habits, contaminating surfaces with bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites capable of causing diseases in people and animals. In addition, they have a role in the appearance of allergic processes in sensitive people. This makes it essential to take action against them, especially in places where they are a danger to public he alth.
In this article on our site, we will talk about the diseases that cockroaches transmit to people, our cats and our dogs, as well as the measures to take to avoid them.
Why do cockroaches spread disease?
In the world there are almost 5,000 species of cockroaches, of which only 30 have a tendency to be pest and transmit diseases. Most cockroaches have a great ecological role because they feed on decomposing organic matter, which makes nutrients available to other organisms. These cockroaches are wild, they are active during daylight hours and are found in tropical humid forests.
On the contrary, the cockroaches that can be a pest are nocturnal and omnivorous, being able to eat anything they find along the way, hiding during the day in places without light and humidity, such as sewers, septic tanks or sewers and it is at night when they go to bars and restaurants, sanitary places such as hospitals, our homes or stores with food products, contaminating utensils and foodto later transmit diseases.
The problem with cockroaches that can be pests is very clear: these cockroaches can transmit diseases due to their eating habits and the areas they usually frequent.
What diseases can cockroaches transmit to people?
It is common to hear that these insects should not be stepped on. But why shouldn't you step on cockroaches? In addition to being a cruel and unnecessary act, the cockroach acts as a transport vehicle for numerous microorganisms, many of them pathogenic to humans. This is possible because these microorganisms can remain viable in their integument, digestive system and feces for days or weeks, which is why it is recommended not to step on cockroaches. These germs get them from the places where they circulate, such as sewers or garbage, as well as the droppings of infected animals. The transmission of germs can occur by regurgitation of food, by contact with their extremities or by the deposit of droppings, which can be ingested by people when they feed on products contaminated by cockroaches.
Cockroaches can transmit to people diseases caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungi and can also be responsible for allergic reactions:
Bacterial diseases
Bacteria are the main group of pathogenic microorganisms that cockroaches transmit, as they can harbor and transmit up to 40 species. Some of them can infect people with the following diseases:
- Gastroenteritis, dysentery and cholera: It has been shown that at least 25 types of bacteria transmitted by cockroaches belong to the Enterobacteriaceae group, causing gastroenteritis in people. They are also capable of transmitting Shigella, which cause childhood diarrhea and dysentery. Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is a disease more commonly transmitted in developing countries and places with inadequate environmental management.
- Leprosy: This disease is still present in places like Brazil, Africa and Southeast Asia; It can be transmitted by cockroaches that carry the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae by having been in contact with the saliva of infected people through droplets from sneezes or coughs.
- Typhoid fever: Another bacteria that cockroaches transmit due to their eating habits is Salmonella typhi, which causes typhoid fever.
- Salmonellosis: Cockroaches, along with rodents, can transmit salmonellosis to people, a disease that causes symptoms of food poisoning. The bacteria that most commonly transmit salmonellosis are Salmonella anatum and Salmonella oranienburg.
- Urinary tract infection: occurs in greater numbers in women and is caused by the consumption of spoiled food contaminated by cockroaches with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Parasitic diseases
Cockroaches can also transmit certain parasitic diseases to humans, due to parasites such as:
- Helminths: Helminths (roundworms) represent, after bacteria, the most important group of pathogenic organisms transmitted by cockroaches, being able to transmit seven different species to people. They can also be transmitters of flatworm eggs due to having been in contact with the feces of a dog or cat with Echinococcus granulosus, which is responsible for hydatid disease in people, which consists of the formation of a hydatid cyst mainly in the liver (70%), where it will cause pain, jaundice, palpable mass and fever, although it can also occur in the lung, where it can cause cough, hemoptysis or vomica (expulsion of blood or pus when coughing) and complications due to cyst rupture.
- Protozoa: Cockroaches can also transmit diseases caused by the protozoa Balantidium coli, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis, Toxoplasma gondii and Trypanosoma cruzi (causing Chagas disease).
Viral diseases
Several studies show that cockroaches can acquire, maintain and transmit certain viruses, such as Coxsackie (which causes the disease commonly called Hand Foot and Mouthmainly in babies and children, characterized by the formation of a rash on the hands and feet and painful sores in the mouth) and the poliovirus that causes poliomyelitis They are also suspected to be vectors of hepatitis due to having come into contact with the feces of patients or food that has been contaminated with the virus.
Fungal diseases
Cockroaches are also hosts to fungi responsible for lung diseases, such as Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger, associated with pathological conditions.
Allergic reactions
Apart from these diseases, they can cause an attack of asthma in sensitive people by inhaling the proteins that cockroaches have in their body and your skin. There are also people who are allergic to the feces and saliva of these arthropods, which appears when inhaling the air of a place where they have been present.
In addition to cockroaches, another of the animals that tend to transmit more diseases to humans are rats. For this reason, we encourage you to read this other article on Diseases that rats transmit to humans.
What diseases can cockroaches transmit to our dogs and cats?
Cats and dogs can be infected with protozoa, cyst-forming parasites, from cockroaches. Some of these protozoa are:
- Organ Diseases: Toxoplasma gondii can cause necrotic cells in cats, causing diseases related to the stomach, liver, intestine, pancreas, lung, muscles, nervous system and eyes.
- Musculature cysts: the protozoan Sarcocystis spp. can cause cysts in the muscles of dogs and cats. They also cause anemia, fever, alopecia or increased levels of plasma enzymes (GOT, CPK AND LDH).
- Neuromuscular problems: Neospora caninum affects dogs, with puppies and older dogs being more susceptible, producing mainly neuromuscular symptoms, such as limb paralysis, muscle pain along with atrophy and flaccidity, difficulty swallowing, jaw paralysis and cervical weakness, which can cause myocarditis and sudden death in severe cases.
- Intestinal Problems: Cockroaches can also transmit eggs of the flatworm Echinococcus granulosus to people, but in dogs and cats no hydatid cyst is produced, but rather lodges in the intestine of these animals, most of the time being asymptomatic. Only when the parasite load is high can signs of enteritis or mild and transient intestinal inflammation occur. This is due to the fact that dogs and cats are definitive hosts of the parasite and not intermediaries such as ruminants or pigs, or accidental hosts such as people. It is important to deworm our dogs and cats to avoid this zoonosis.
- Digestive problems: other parasites that can be transmitted by cockroaches are roundworms, which belong to the group of nematodes, being Toxacara canis the parasite of dogs, Toxacara cati that of cats and Toxascaris leonina that of both. These parasites pass to the lungs and liver after ingestion (by hunting or eating a cockroach) and then travel to their final location, the intestine, where they produce digestive symptoms. It is a zoonosis, and can be transmitted by unhygienic habits, mainly to children. Hookworm nematodes can also be transmitted by the same route, being more serious in young dogs and cats. They are parasites that feed on blood, and can also produce pale gums due to the anemia it causes, dark diarrhea, dull hair, cough, lung damage, lethargy and inability to gain weight. These parasites can also be transmitted to people through the skin when the larvae of these parasites penetrate the skin, producing the condition called "cutaneous larva migrans" or orally due to poor hygiene, in the latter case being very mild, since they are not the definitive hosts of these parasites and do not become adults until they reach the intestine.
Cockroaches also seem to be able to transmit to dogs and cats, as in people, enterobacteria and salmonellosis, possible causes of clinical symptoms gastroenteric in our dogs and cats.
How to avoid diseases transmitted by cockroaches?
The best way to avoid diseases caused by cockroaches is to apply certain actions to prevent them from entering the home and thus prevent them from contaminating food or places that we frequent, such as:
- Good hygiene: carry out proper hygiene of kitchen utensils and food products, especially those that are not going to be used later. be sterilized at high temperatures.
- Seal any holes in the house: as well as check the pipes and possible places where these insects can stay, as well how to avoid the humidity that they like so much. He alth centers must control the entry of merchandise that may carry cockroach eggs or nymphs.
- Laurel: Another option is to use home remedies to ward off cockroaches, such as putting laurel, as its smell repels them.
- Watch our pets: if we see that our dog or cat is near a cockroach, we must avoid ingesting it, as well as control Make sure your food and water dishes are clean and away from these insects.
In cases where there is already a plague, these measures will not be sufficient and it will be necessary to contact professionals.
