Yes, cockroaches can make you sick and yes you can kill and control them. Cockroaches can make you sick by carrying fungi, pathogenic organisms and disease causing bacteria. The most threatening disease that they can carry is Salmonella. These diseases can be passed on to humans through food and surface contamination by the insects.
Here are some guidelines that you can follow to help minimize the attraction that your dwelling will hold for them.
- Keep food out of other rooms besides the kitchen and dining area. Since we spend so much time sleeping, the bedroom, that would be another place to keep food free, so we do not attract roaches and their associated allergens.
- Store pet food in tight, odor free containers, clean up spilled pet food and clean up unfinished pet food in bowls soon after your pet is done eating.
- Eliminate dark, damp places where pests love to hide. Fix that leaking drain pipe under the sink. Make sure it is dry under there.
- Never leave food out overnight and take trash out often. Keep trash in a tight fitting container to keep the odors from attracting pests from other houses or apartments.
- Keep cracks around the outside walls of your house or apartment caulked to deter pests from entering.
- Sweep and mop the floor often and make sure countertops are kept clean. A small bit of food is a buffet to an insect pest.
Another method that can be effectively used in conjunction of the insecticide is the Roach Motel type of trap. These are generally non poisonous and very effective. The traps work by having a bait situated in the middle of the boxed trap.
