Hello, I’m purchasing a house in Long Island New York and the Home inspection report
Indicates there is racoon feces (latrines) found in the attic.
I have read about how this parasite’s eggs can cause severe disease or even be fatal if ingested or inhaled. I would like to know around how long does these eggs remain airborne and can they travel far through the surroundings in case the cleaning crew were to accidentally disturb the feces in the latrines. Also how long can the eggs live in dried feces? Iam extremely worry about getting an infection from these parasites as I suffer from an autoimmune disease and the threat of Covid 19 circulating doubles the worries. II would immensely appreciate your help.
I’m not an expert on this, but I see that you’ve had no responses, so I thought I’d have a look
First, here’s what Wikipedia says about cleaning up:
Check out the CDC pages, which appears to say that inhaling the eggs is not a major method of transmission. This and other sites imply that the main method is by somehow ingesting the eggs.
This sheet tells you how to clean up:
and here
Most of these sites appear to imply that the probability of infection is not high, but note that effects are bad, if it occurs (and that it certainly is possible to inhale roundworm eggs).
Ordinarily i would say to be cautious but not overly concerned, but if you have an autoimmune disease the risk may be greater. It might be best to hire someone to clean the house out, or find a very dedicated friend.
Looking on the internet I find several services, some of them nationwide, that advertise cleaning up raccoon “latrines”
I am not a doctor. I do, however, run a wildlife sanctuary, we have raccoons, and we’ve dealt with B. procyonis before.
You’re unlikely to end up with a roundworm infection unless you come in contact with the eggs. If you touch part of the raccoon latrine, wipe your forehead, a drop of sweat from the hot attic runs down to the corner or your mouth, you could be infected. The roundworms are parasites, so your compromised immune system won’t be as big a deal as it would be with a viral or bacterial infestation, but you still need to be careful.
Hire professionals to clean out the latrine. In your offer, ask the seller to pay for it. If they refuse, it’s still better to hire someone than to do it yourself. They’re going to have the equipment, the tools, the sanitizers.
Be aware that if the raccoon latrine is in the joists, their urine will have soaked into the wood. Every time that area gets humid, the smell will return. And that smell is rank.
And, final note, if you buy the house, make sure the openings where the raccoons were getting in have been properly sealed off. They have a tendency to come back to the same latrines over and over.