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Rats, leptospirosis and the clean-up after a flood
Leptospirosis is an illness caused by bacteria spread in the urine of infected animals, rats and mice among them, and Queensland Health says it spreads more easily after heavy rain or floods. Most people recover with antibiotics, but it can be serious, so the clean-up needs care: follow NSW Health’s steps in full.
General health information, not medical advice. Queensland Health’s leptospirosis page is the official place to check, and it offers health advice at any hour on 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) for the cost of a local call.
What the floodwater carries
Queensland Health names the animals: rodents, meaning rats and mice, and also livestock such as cattle and pigs, horses and dogs. NSW Health’s fact sheet, written for New South Wales, adds how people usually catch it: through water, soil or mud contaminated with the urine of infected animals.
The bacteria usually get in through cuts or grazes in the skin, and sometimes through the lining of the mouth, nose and eyes, NSW Health says. It also says cases can rise after floods and tropical cyclones, when people may have to walk through contaminated water, or drink or wash in it, and that it is relatively rare in Australia but more common in warm, moist regions such as north-eastern New South Wales and Queensland.
As the water goes down
Protection comes first, then the clean-up, then the weeks after.
- Before you touch anything
healthdirect advises covering any cuts and grazes with a waterproof dressing before you touch soil, mud or water that may be contaminated with animal urine, and wearing gloves when you garden.
- The clean-up
NSW Health’s steps for cleaning up after mice are on its fact sheet, linked below. The same fact sheet says the bacteria may be present in mouse and rat urine.
- Afterwards
healthdirect says the bacteria are quickly killed by soap, disinfectants and drying. To keep rats away from the house, NSW Health’s advice is to clean up rubbish and remove food sources close to where people live.
- The weeks after
Symptoms usually appear 5 to 14 days after infection, though the range is 2 to 30 days, and last from a few days to 3 weeks or longer, NSW Health says.
NSW Health’s steps for cleaning up after mice, written for New South Wales, are on its mouse plague fact sheet. Follow them whole.
The symptoms to know
- Early
- Fever, severe headache, sore muscles, chills, vomiting and red eyes, usually coming on suddenly, in NSW Health’s list.
- Severe
- Some people go on to severe disease, which can include kidney failure, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyeballs, a sign of liver disease), bleeding and breathing complications. Most people with severe disease need hospital care, and it can sometimes be fatal.
- More than once
- Queensland Health says you can get leptospirosis more than once, because there are different strains of the bacteria.
- Between people
- It very rarely spreads from person to person, and people who have it do not need to take extra steps to stop it spreading, Queensland Health says.
What a doctor does
A doctor can diagnose leptospirosis with a blood test, and two blood tests taken more than two weeks apart are often needed, according to NSW Health. It is commonly treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline or penicillin. healthdirect says a doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you, as well as referring you for the blood test.
Leptospirosis is a nationally notifiable disease, which means government health authorities must be told about every case, healthdirect says; in New South Wales, laboratories notify cases to the local public health unit. There is no vaccine for people; vaccinating animals is an important step in prevention.
While the floors are drying
The same water can reach what protects the house from termites. QBCC says that if flooding has surrounded or covered internal floors, owners should look for damage to their termite management system. Where the system has been compromised, or termites are suspected, it says to get an inspection straight away from someone holding a QBCC termite management contractor licence.
If a treatment follows, the technician owes you a notice before starting and another afterwards, set out in before and after a treatment. If a cleaning product or pesticide ends up somewhere it should not, the steps are on pesticide poisoning first aid. And the drywood termite, which lives above the waterline in the timber itself, has its own reading.
A flood clean-up is slow, wet work. Gloves, a waterproof dressing over every cut and soap at the end of it are the plain protections the health departments name.