Bats Disease And Guano Related Concerns
It's true, bats can carry and transmit disease,
and about 1% of bats carry rabies
and some may carry lice.
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However, looking at the big picture,
these odds are small and bats are more beneficial than harmful, as long as they're not in buildings.
Regarding diseases other than rabies, according to the C.D.C.
(Center for Disease control) bats are natural reservoirs, or vectors of
several zoonotic infections. These include: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Henipavirus, Nipah, and Hendra.
Regarding Guano, Hystoplasmosis can be a scare with bats - but in a building,
it is not typically a concern. This is because the right conditions must be present to produce this
zoonotic infection. If you lived in a damp cave or in the wet, humid sewer systems of a large city,
we would be more concerned, but not as concerned when talking about the hot dry attic or ceiling of a building.
Just the same, it is important to know that
Hystoplasmosis is a serious respiratory disorder that can kill you. Guano MAY produce a mold. That mold MAY
produce a fungus. That fungus MAY produce a spore. That spore MAY produce hystoplasmosis. And then, hystoplasmosis
MAY kill you or MAY give you ocular hystoplasmosis. But typically, concerns about this are overstated and unfounded.
Evict the bats and clean up as much guano as possible is the mission.
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