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Pest Management Priducts Division of CSPA
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This incidental transfer of microorganisms is likely to contaminate foods and produce spoilage and cause gastrointestinal illness in people. While such effects are not well documented, many studies have identified a variety of human pathogens from cockroaches, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoan.
Cockroaches multiply rapidly, especially with adequate heat and humidity. They molt up to six times from egg to adult. The remnants of repeated molting, excretions and dead roaches eventually produce a biological dust of protein particles capable of becoming airborne. Recent research has associated this debris from some cockroach species with antibodies responsible for allergies, including asthma, which can be life threatening. Medical reports indicate that up to 60% of asthmatics have allergic reactions to cockroaches, which are second only to house dust mites in an ability to trigger allergies. Alarmingly, the incidence of asthma is on the increase, particularly in low-income families in cities and among children. Cockroach control is now commonly found in medical recommendations for asthma management, since roaches contribute to an estimated billion dollar per year medical problem.