No one wants to walk into their kitchen and spot roaches scurrying away to hide. Human beings carry a natural revulsion of the creepy, crawling insects, and most of us recoil at the thought of even touching one. But roaches can spread more than just fear or disgust… They actually contribute to the spread of disease and can even trigger allergies.
Roaches are known for eating pretty much anything, including rotting food, garbage, and fecal matter (even each other’s feces). And of course you aren’t leaving piles of rotting food everywhere, but all it takes is a few small crumbs behind your stove or under the fridge. After ingesting these less than savory meals, roaches crawl about your kitchen (and the rest of your home) potentially spreading pathogens like salmonella, streptococcus, staphylococcus, and gastroenteritis.
Once they’ve ingested a bacteria, roaches can carry them in their digestive systems for years. Then, they pass them to us by vomiting and defecating on any of our food that they can access. We apologize for the revulsion you’re probably feeling right now!
Recent research has also shown that some people are allergic to roaches. They shed feces, saliva, and body parts (as they die), which can become part of normal household dust. If you’re allergic to roaches, their presence can trigger symptoms like coughing, congestion, wheezing, a skin rash, ear infections, and sinus infections.
Obviously, you want to take steps to address a roach infestation at the very first sign of a problem. Remember to always keep all food put away in airtight containers (not simply the cracker and cereal packaging you originally purchased, as roaches can easily crawl into those). This way you can protect your family from roach-spread pathogens in their food supply.
And then, give us a call at the first sign of a roach problem. Over-the-counter products often give you a false sense of security, by killing a few roaches that you can see, but their nests are usually hidden where you can’t find them. We’ll get to the source and eradicate your little pathogen-spreaders once and for all.