If you live in or around London then you are doubtless aware of the necessity for pest control. Indeed, in London, pest control leaves a lot to be desired in terms of what is provided by local councils. And whilst certain animals that might be deemed as pests – foxes, or squirrels, for instance – are far too comely to want rid of (for most of us), other pests such as roaches and rats engender such a phobic level of repugnance that our psyches almost dial the number of our nearest pest control specialists on behalf of our fingers.
Whilst the malign ramifications of failing to deal with certain pests are at once both instantaneous and obvious, the potential dangers inherent in living alongside other pests are often less blatant. For instance, if you’ve a nest of bees, wasps or hornets in your shed, outhouse, garage, loft or otherwise, then it’s fairly obvious that there is an inevitability to getting stung (at least once).
Getting this seen to, the urgency to do so, is often dictated by who inhabits a household. A hardy person living out in Dungeness for instance, in a detached property with no neighbours in close vicinity, whose fear of insects is negligible, and who lives alone, is unlikely to be in any amazing rush to contact a Pest Control London specialist. This individual is under no obligation to allay the fears and dangers of others. There is no school nearby, no neighbours nearby. The risk is, therefore, essentially, totally that of the individual.
Conversely, the same person could be living in Stoke Newington, surrounded by neighbours with young children and the owner of a garden that backs onto a junior school. The onus on enlisting the services of a London pest control company is all of a sudden more of a community-minded decision – an obligation to protect the multiple vulnerabilities of an entire neighbourhood.
Anyway, to pull this article back from digression and to its original topic, there are certain pests whose diseases are almost hardwired into the topography, geography and demography of London. The potential risks are therefore negated by familiarity. Add to this the fact that certain pests can cause harm in a less tangible, less direct way. Certain diseases are not the consequence of a bite, or a sting. Certain diseases are fatal, and yet there’s every likelihood that the victim would never actually physically see the creature that transmitted the disease.
Take rats, for instance. Rats carry Weil’s syndrome. A disease so harmful that it goes via a multitude of monikers (citing Wikipedia): Leptospirosis; Canicola fever; Canefield fever; Nanukayami fever, 7-day fever; Rat Catcher’s Yellows, Fort Bragg fever, Black Jaundice and Pretibial fever. It is transmitted via the urine of infected rats, mice and moles, and a person can catch it by simply swallowing contaminated food or water, or through skin contact.
If someone falls ill with Weil’s syndrome then they are susceptible to a formidable range of symptoms including high fever, muscle aches, severe headache, vomiting, jaundice, rash, abdominal pain, chills, diarrhoea, meningitis, fatigue, hearing loss, respiratory difficulties, renal interstitial tubular necrosis, liver failure and, unsurprisingly, death.
If not for the protection of yourself, then for that of your loved ones and those around you – if you have an infestation of rats or mice then call a London Pest Control specialist and get it seen too.
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