Is it dangerous to touch or breath rat feces?

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Rat feces is definitely dangerous, and there are lots of different diseases you can contract by direct and indirect contact with rat waste, both feces and urine. You can get seriously ill from breathing in dust that has been contaminated with rat droppings or urine, by direct contact with rat waste, or by drinking food or eating water that have been contaminated by rat feces. Below are a couple of the diseases that rats transmit to humans through their feces and urine by one or multiple of the modalities previously enumerated – and I’m just listing the ones that are common worldwide or throughout North America, because I don’t want to go on and on with diseases like the Lassa Fever and many others of the sort.

• Salmonellosis;
• Tularemia;
• Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome;
• Leptospirosis;
• Rat-Bite Fever;
• Eosinophilic Meningitis.

Always take precautions when dealing with home rat infestation, and wear protective gear. When performing decontamination after complete rat removal is accomplished, it’s preferable that you wear gloves, a full biohazard suit, and a HEPA filter mask. Rat decontamination is a serious task, so make sure you do it by the book if you don’t want to hire a pro to handle the situation for you. Here’s a brief summary of what you need to do when performing rat decontamination in the attic, as the attic is the most frequently pest invaded space in households throughout the US:

• Clear dropping and other waste by vacuuming the attic;
• Rip off heavily soiled insulation and replace it with new batt fiberglass insulation;
• Spray the entire space meticulously with a cleaning product that kills bacteria, eats any other biological waste left behind by the rats that you couldn’t vacuum, and eliminate all the rat-associated odors.

Rats are extremely nasty vermin that can carry several diseases, plenty of which can be easily contracted by humans. It is very important to try and correctly tackle a rat infestation problem as soon as you first see any signs of invasion. One rat choosing your home or place of business as its living space it’s all it takes for things to get out of control fast. Not dealing with rat infestation may even get you in trouble with the law in some jurisdictions, and the risk of you or your loved contracting a rat-associated disease increases exponentially as rats live, breed, and attract more outside rats in your home. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
Example rat trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.