Common Biohazard Information
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RAT/MICE-BORNE
DISEASES
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Description: A rodent
transmitted viral disease. Arenavirus infections are
relatively common in humans in some areas of the world
(not the United States) and can cause severe illnesses.
The arenaviruses are divided into two groups: the New
World or Tacaribe complex and the Old World or LCM/Lassa
complex.
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Cause: Disease caused by
many types of viruses belonging to the Arenaviridae.
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Incubation: period varies
with the type of viral infection.
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Symptoms: Varies with the
type of viral infection.
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Diagnosis: By physician.
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Treatment: Varies with
the type of viral infection. Supportive medical care
and management of fever is important.
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Mode
of Transmission:
Contact with infected rodent urine,
droppings and nesting materials. Also by stirring up -
or aerosolizing - rodent urine and droppings when
cleaning contaminated areas. By consumption of
contaminated food or by direct contact of broken skin
with rodent excrement. Wild rodents transmit this
disease by contaminating food and drink with their feces
and urine.
Hantavirus
Pulmonary Syndrome
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Description:
A viral disease that may be
contracted through direct contact with, or inhalation
of, aerosolized infected rodent urine, saliva, or
droppings.
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Cause: Disease caused by
a virus found in the saliva, urine and droppings of some
species of wild rodents, especially deer mice.
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Incubation: period
1 to 5 weeks.
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Symptoms: Fever,
severe muscle aches, fatigue. After a few days,
difficulty breathing, dizziness, chills, vomiting,
diarrhea and stomach pain.
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Diagnosis: By physician.
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Treatment: Supportive
care by a physician.
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Mode of
Transmission:
Contact with mouse urine, droppings
and nesting materials. Also by stirring up - or
aerosolizing - mouse urine and droppings when cleaning
contaminated areas.
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Description:
A bacterial disease that may be
contracted through contact with water or ingestion of
food contaminated with the urine of infected rats and
mice. Also known as Weil’s disease, Canicola Fever,
Hemorrhagic Jaundice, Mud Fever, Swinehard’s Disease.
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Cause: Disease caused by
a bacterial spirochete, Leptospira
icterohaemorhagiae.
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Incubation: period 4 to
19 days.
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Symptoms: Fever,
headache, chills, severe malaise, vomiting. Occasionally
meningitis, rash, jaundice, anemia. Clinical illness can
last up to three weeks.
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Diagnosis: By physician
although laboratory tests difficult and not always
conclusive.
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Treatment: With
antibiotics.
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Mode
of Transmission:
Ingestion of contaminated food or
water with the urine of rats and mice. Also contact
with water, soil and vegetation contaminated with the
urine of infected animals.
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Description:
A viral disease also known as LCM,
Benign or Serous Lymphocytic Meningitis.
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Cause: Disease caused by
a virus.
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Incubation: period 8 to
21 days.
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Symptoms:
Sometimes begins with flu-like symptoms, sometimes
begins with inflammation the brain (encephalitis) or
both the brain and the membrane that surrounds the brain
and spinal cord (meningoencephalomyelitis).
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Diagnosis: By physician
isolating virus from blood or cerebrospinal fluid.
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Treatment: Supportive
care (fluids and management of fever). Most cases make
a full recovery.
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Mode
of Transmission:
From exposure to infected House
Mouse urine, feces and saliva.
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Description:
A bacterial disease caused by the
bites of infected fleas. Also known as Flea-borne
typhus, Endemic typhus fever, Shop typhus.
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Cause: Caused by the
bacterium Rickettsia typhi.
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Incubation: period 1 to 2
weeks.
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Symptoms:
Headache, chills, fever, general pain; spots/rash appear
on the fifth or sixth day on upper body and ultimately
spread to all of body except face, palms of hands and
soles of feet.
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Diagnosis: By physician
with lab tests.
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Treatment: Antibiotics
and supportive care.
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Mode
of Transmission:
By fleas associated with rats.
Rats are the reservoir for the bacterium. Fleas bite
both rats and humans. Infection in rats is not
apparent.
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Description: A bacterial
disease caused by the bites of infected fleas. Can
present itself as bubonic plague, pneumonic plague or
septicemic plague.
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Cause: Disease caused by
the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
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Incubation: period 2 to 6
days.
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Symptoms:
Bubonic form: Swollen tender lymph
nodes, especially in/near the groin area. Fever usually
present.
Pneumonic form: involves above symptoms
but disease has progressed and includes the lungs
resulting in pneumonia. This form is highly contagious
being passed from person to person through droplets of
sputum when the infected individual coughs.
Septicemic Form: Plague in blood and
being spread to all parts of the body.
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Diagnosis: By physician
with lab tests.
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Treatment: Antibiotics
and supportive care.
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Mode
of Transmission:
From the bites of infected fleas.
Various rodents (squirrels, chipmunks, rats, etc.) are
the natural reservoir for the bacterium. Fleas of
rodents bite humans when sufficient rodent hosts are no
longer available.
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Description: A bacterial
disease that can be contracted from the bite of a rat or
mouse. Rat Bite Fever is also known as Streptobacillary
Fever or Spirillary Fever.
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Cause: Streptobacillary
fever is caused by the bacterium Streptobacillus
moniliformis. Spirillary Fever caused by the
bacterium Spirillum minor.
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Incubation: period 1 to 3
weeks for Spirillary Fever; 3 to 10 days, rarely longer,
for Streptobacillary Fever, following a history of a rat
or mouse bite, which has normally healed.
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Symptoms: Abrupt
onset of fever, chills, headache and muscle pain. Later
followed by a rash which is most pronounced on the
extremities. One or more large joints then become red,
swollen and painful.
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Diagnosis: By physician
and lab cultures using blood, lymph or joint fluid
samples.
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Treatment: Antibiotics,
without treatment fatality rate is 7 - 10%.
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Mode
of Transmission:
Usually following a bite from an
infected rat or mouse.
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Description:
A bacterial food poisoning that may
be transmitted when rodents contaminate food by contact
with their own feces or urine.
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Cause: Disease caused by
a Salmonella spp. bacteria, especially
Salmonella typhimurium.
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Incubation: period 6 to
72 hours.
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Symptoms: Sudden
onset of headache, acute abdominal pain, diarrhea,
nausea, sometimes vomiting, fever. Potential for
dehydration especially in children.
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Susceptibility: Children
are the most susceptible to the virus.
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Diagnosis: By physician.
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Treatment: With
antibiotics.
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Mode
of Transmission:
By consumption of contaminated food
or water or poorly cooked foods. Domestic pets and wild
rodents (rats/mice) can also be carriers of this
disease. Wild rodents transmit this disease by
contaminating food and drink with their feces and urine.
PIGEON-BORNE
DISEASES
More than 60
transmissible bird diseases (some of which are
fatal) are associated with geese, pigeons, starlings
and house sparrows. Here are some of the more
severe.
Histoplasmosis is caused by a
fungus (Histoplasma capsulatum) found
primarily in the areas drained by the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers. Both humans and animals can be
affected. The disease is transmitted to humans by
airborne fungus spores from soil contaminated by
pigeon and starling droppings (as well as from the
droppings of other birds and bats). The soil under a
roost usually has to have been enriched by droppings
for two years or more for the disease organism to
reach significant levels. Although almost always
associated with soil, the fungus has been found in
droppings (particularly from bats) alone, such as in
an attic.
Mode of Transmission:
Infection occurs when spores,
carried by the air are inhaled — especially after a
roost has been disturbed. Most infections are mild
and produce either no symptoms or a minor influenza-
like illness. On occasion, the disease can cause
high fever, blood abnormalities, pneumonia and even
death. In some areas, including portions of
Illinois, up to 80 percent of the population show
evidence of previous infection. Outbreaks of
histoplasmosis have occurred in Central Illinois.
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) has reported a potentially blinding eye
condition — presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome
(OHS) — that probably results from the fungus. NIH
estimates that 4 percent of those exposed to the
disease are at risk of developing OHS.
Cryptococcosis Pigeon droppings appear to be the most important source of the disease fungus Cryptococcus neoformans in the environment. The fungus is typically found in accumulations of droppings around roosting and nesting sites, for example, attics, cupolas, ledges and water towers. It has been found in as many as 84 percent of samples taken from old roosts. Even when old and dry, bird droppings can be a significant source of infection. Mode of
Transmission: Candidiasis is a yeast or fungus infection spread by pigeons. The disease affects the skin, the mouth, the respiratory system, the intestines and the urogenital tract, especially the vagina. It is a growing problem for women, causing itching, pain and discharge. St. Louis Encephalitis, an inflammation of the nervous system, usually causes drowsiness, headache and fever. It may even result in paralysis, coma or death. St. Louis encephalitis occurs in all age groups, but is especially fatal to persons over age 60. The disease is spread by mosquitoes which have fed on infected house sparrow, pigeons and house finches carrying the Group B virus responsible for St. Louis encephalitis. Salmonellosis often occurs as "food poisoning" and can be traced to pigeons, starlings and sparrows. The disease bacteria are found in bird droppings; dust from droppings can be sucked through ventilators and air conditioners, contaminating food and cooking surfaces in restaurants, homes and food processing plants. E.coli. Cattle carry E. coli 0157:H7. When birds peck on cow manure, the E. coli go right through the birds and the bird droppings can land on or in a food or water supply. Besides being direct carriers of disease, nuisance birds are frequently associated with over 50 kinds of ectoparasites, which can work their way throughout structures to infest and bite humans. About two-thirds of these pests may be detrimental to the general health and well-being of humans and domestic animals. The rest are considered nuisance or incidental pests. A few examples of ectoparasites include: Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) may consume up to five times their own weight in blood drawn from hosts which include humans and some domestic animals. In any extreme condition, victims may become weak and anemic. Pigeons, starlings and house sparrows are known to carry bed bugs. Chicken mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) are known carriers of encephalitis and may also cause fowl mite dermatitis and acariasis. While they subsist on blood drawn from a variety of birds, they may also attack humans. They have been found on pigeons, starlings and house sparrows. Yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), perhaps the most common beetle parasites of people in the United States, live in pigeon nests. It is found in grain or grain products, often winding up in breakfast cereals, and may cause intestinal canthariasis and hymenolespiasis. West Nile Virus while West Nile is technically not transmitted to humans from birds, humans can get infected by the bite of a mosquito who has bitten an infected bird. The obvious lesson is that the fewer birds there are in any given area, the better. This translates into a smaller chance of an infected bird in that area, a smaller chance of a mosquito biting an infected bird and then biting a human. *Information provided by Crime Scene Steri-Clean of California. |
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