Attack of the cockroaches
One local mother maintains a pus-filled lesion on the abdomen of her eight-year-old daughter was caused by a cockroach ?bite.?
The fast-breeding insects are known to spread illness such as salmonella, diarrhoea and dysentery, and are also linked to asthma.
Labour councillor Paul Bell has had contact from families in two council estates on the south side with cockroach infestation. He is also aware of cases of cockroach outbreaks in a number of private estates.I have been astonished to have members of the public present me with dead cockroaches in plastic jars at my clinic in Ballsgrove. One mother said she only discovered she had cockroaches when her children developed bite marks which became infected. Her GP didn?t know what was causing the problem. He sent her to the Lourdes where a foreign doctor identified the infection as being caused by a cockroach bite,? he told the Drogheda Independent.
He said Drogheda Borough Council stepped in on Friday to deal with a number of cockroach infestations highlighted by him in council estates.
The insects are not native to Ireland but they have become a problem in recent years with increased foreign travel and food imports coming from countries where cockroaches are common.
Peter Flanagan from East Pest Control has dealt with a number of cockroach outbreaks in the Drogheda area in recent weeks.Ten years ago we rarely had to deal with these insects but the number of cockroach call-outs has increased dramatically,? he said.Cockroaches are often transported unwittingly in boxes carrying foodstuffs from various parts of the world. The female carries a shell containing 30 to 40 eggs which gets stuck to foodstuffs.These eggs hatch out in warmth. One shell arriving into a house can cause a rapid infestation,? he said. The insects like to live in kitchens where they have water and food. It is also where they can cause serious health problems.Cockroaches carry a number of nasty diseases. In China they have been linked to the spread of SARS. They run across kitchen counters spreading infection as they go. They can also climb walls and the males can fly. If they get into the vents of apartments they can spread rapidly through a building,? Mr Flanagan said.
The pest control expert said while cockroaches can bite, he was not aware of many instances of the insects biting humans. The Drogheda cockroaches are about one and a half inches in length (28 mm) and commonly known as the German cockroach.These are one of the nastiest and most difficult insects to exterminate. People need to be vigilant and call the borough council or pest control experts if they have a problem. My main concern is for the health of citizens, especially children who can suffer serious infections as a result of these infestations,? he said.
