Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches Carry Strong Mold Allergens
Huge bugs that don’t bite,look interesting and make strange sounds–that’s what has made Madagascar hissing cockroaches popular pets and teaching tools. But the giant cockroaches also have an undesireable trait: Their hard shells and their waste products contain numerous mold species that can trigger allergies in children and adults who handle the bugs, according to researchers.
Scientists have found 14 different types of mold on and around the Madagascar hissing cockroach, including several molds associated with allergies. Other molds that they harbor can cause human infections if they are inhaled into the lungs or get into an open wound.
The public is in no great danger but it needs to be aware of the negative effects that the molds contain — according to the authors of the study at Ohio State University. If you handle these cockroaches, you should wash your hands when you’re done.
Try to keep their enclosure clean. They appear to be low maintenance pets but if you don’t keep their habitat clean, then the mold can grow on their waste products and shed shells.
The research is published in the March 2008 issue of “Mycoses”.
