How Do Dead Animals Cause and Spread Diseases?

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Yes, is the short answer to this question. There are MANY disease and health problems associated with dead animals, and that's why we don't advise doing any sort of kill-related removal projects without first doing plenty of research. This will need to be research on not just the approach you're taking, but also on the animal itself.



Let's take a humble raccoon as an example. This is a creature that is regularly found dead in human homes, and it's also a creature very well known to be a vector of the rabies virus. The virus can still be present in the dead body for sometime after the animal itself has died, and it just takes one wrong move for that infection to be passed on. If your dog were to find that raccoon, dig it out or up, and then play with it, perhaps even consuming some of it, it would then have the rabies virus in its body. If that dog wasn't vaccinated properly prior to the infection, there's a very good chance that the outcome will be fatal.

Any bacteria that was present in the body of the now-dead animal will be released once the decomposition process starts, and this means that certain disease spores can become airborne. Tularemia is one example of a disease that can be contracted from the dead body of a wild animal, and the threat comes with a large number of species. Fleas, ticks, and mites can stay alive for some time after the host body has died too, and it takes barely anything to transfer them to a new host, meaning you or your pets.

Different animal species will come with different disease threats, but the fact is, many of them are incredibly dangerous. We do not recommend that you get too close to the carcass of a wild animal, instead calling in the appropriate expert to do the job for you. Depending on where the animal is, a thorough cleanup operation may be called for, and this will usually include very strong biological cleaning agents that are not easy to buy over-the-counter.

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does dead animal removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of dead animals - my main dead animal removal info guide.
Example dead animal removal photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Dead animal job blog - learn from great examples of dead animal jobs I've done.