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Rodents

As an order of mammals called Rodentia, better known as Rodents, these animals are characterised by having 2 continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short for gnawing.  These teeth have enamel on the outside and exposed dentine on the inside so they self-sharpen while the rodent gnaws on wood, to break into food or to bite predators.  As many homeowners know, they are also cause damage to homes.

Some of the animals belonging to the Rodentia family are mice, rats, squirrels, porcupines, beavers, chipmunks, guinea pigs and voles, just to name a few.  Some animals often confused with rodents are bats, moles, hares, rabbits, weasels and mink.

The most common household rodent is the house mouse.  It is a small, slender, dusky-gray rodent with slightly pointed nose, small, black, protruding eyes and large scantily haired ears. They are have poor vision and are color blind, using their sense of smell to find food. They have acute hearing and readily respond to unusual noises as a means of detecting and escaping danger.  They use the long, sensitive whiskers on the nose and above the eyes as tactile sensors, enabling them to travel easily in the dark along runways close to walls.

House mice are the most troublesome rodents in the U.S.  Although they are commonly found living in man-made structures, they are also well adapted to living outdoors, being common inhabitants of grassy fields and cultivated grain crops.  However, they often move into buildings when the weather becomes severe.

Rodents carry lots of diseases.  Mice and rats alone carry over 35 diseases.  They can infect humans either directly by either handling rodents, contact with rodent feces, urine or saliva or from rodent bites or humans can be infected indirectly through ticks, mosquitos, mites and fleas that  have fed on infected rodents.

Here is some information on direct and indirect diseases that humans can catch from rodents:

Did You Know?

Snakes will most often enter a home with a mice problem. If you are having a snake problem, you may have a mice problem too!

Direct Contact Diseases

Rodent(s)

Involved

Disease

Type

Where The

Disease Occurs

How The Disease

Is Spread

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Deer Mouse, Cotton Rat, Rice Rat, White-footed Mouse

Virus

Throughout most of North and South America

Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings, direct contact with rodents or their uring and droppings, bite wounds

Leptospirosis

Rodents and other animals

Bacteria

Worldwide

Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals, contact through skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animals

Disease

Name

Lymphocytie Chorio-meningitis

(LCM)

House mouse

Virus

Worldwide

Breathing in dust that is contaminated with rodent urine or droppings, direct contact with rodents or their uring and droppings, bite wounds

Rat-Bite Fever

Rats and possibly mice

Bacteria

Worldwide

Bite or scratch wound from an infected rodent, or contact with a dead rodent, eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces

Salmonellosis

Rats and mice

Bacteria

Worldwide

Eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated by rat feces

Tularemia

Wild rodents including muskrats, ground squirrels and beavers

Bacteria

Worldwide

Handling infected animal carcasses, being bitten by an infected tick, deerfly or other insect, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, breathing in the bacteria

Indirect Contact Diseases

Rodent(s)

Involved

Disease

Type

Insect

How The Disease

Is Spread

Disease

Name

Babesiosis

Deer mice and voles

Parasite

Tick

Bite from infected tick

California Serogroup Viruses

Eastern chipmunk and tree squirrel

Virus

Mosquito

Bite from infected mosquito

Colorado Tick Fever

Deer mouse, bushy-tailed woodrat, ground squirrel, porcupine, chipmunk

Virus

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Human Cranulocytic Anaplasmosis

Deer mouse, dusky-footed woodrat, Mexican woodrat, white-footed mouse

Bacteria

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Lyme Disease

White-footed mouse and tree squirrel

Bacteria

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Murine Typhus

Rats

Bacteria

Flea or Mite

Bite from infected flea or mite, contact of broken skin or wound with infected flea or mite or their droppings

Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever

Muskrat

Virus

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Powassan Encephalitis

Marmot, sciurid rodents (squirrel family), groundhog

Virus

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Scrub Typhus

Rats

Bacteria

Mite

Bite from infected mite

Rickettsialpox

Mice

Bacteria

Mite

Bite from infected mite

Relapsing Fever

Wild rodents

Bacteria

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Wild rodents

Bacteria

Tick

Bite from infected tick

Sylvatic Typhus

Flying squirrel

Bacteria

Flea, mite or louse

Bite from infected flea or mite, contact of broken skin or wound with infected flea, mite, louse or their droppings or inhaling their aerosolized feces

Western Equine Encephalitis

Ground squirrel, snowshoe hare

Virus

Mosquito

Bite from infected mosquito