Can Rats in Your Bin Make You Ill? Diseases to Know About

Seeing rats around your wheelie bins is alarming – but the real danger isn't just the "yuck factor." Rats carry diseases that can make you and your family seriously ill.

If you've spotted rats near your bins, here's what you need to know about the health risks and how to protect yourself.

Two rats feeding on loose food waste inside dirty wheelie bin

Why Rats Around Bins Are Dangerous

Rats don't just eat from bins – they contaminate everything they touch. A single rat produces:

• 40+ droppings per day

• Constant dribbles of urine as they move

• Saliva on anything they chew
  

This contamination spreads bacteria, viruses, and parasites wherever rats go. When rats access your bin, they contaminate the handles, lid, and surrounding area. Every time you touch your bin, you're potentially exposed.

Diseases Rats Can Transmit

Leptospirosis (Weil's Disease)

This is the most serious disease associated with rats in the UK. It's caused by bacteria found in rat urine and can contaminate water, soil, and surfaces.

Symptoms start like flu – fever, headache, muscle pain – but can progress to kidney failure, liver damage, meningitis, and even death in severe cases. Around 2-3 people die from Weil's disease in the UK each year.

You can catch it through cuts or scratches coming into contact with contaminated surfaces, or through your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Salmonellosis

Rats frequently carry Salmonella bacteria. If they access your bins and then contaminate food preparation areas (or if flies transfer the bacteria from bins to your kitchen), you can develop food poisoning.

Symptoms include severe diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever, and vomiting lasting 4-7 days. It can be serious for young children, elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.

E. coli

Rat droppings and urine contain E. coli bacteria. Contact with contaminated surfaces can cause severe gastrointestinal illness with bloody diarrhoea, stomach cramps, and vomiting.

Some strains can cause kidney failure, particularly in children.

Hantavirus

While less common in the UK than other countries, hantavirus can be transmitted through contact with rat droppings, urine, or saliva – or by breathing in dust contaminated with these.

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and can progress to severe respiratory problems.

Rat-Bite Fever

You don't have to be bitten to catch this – it can be transmitted through contact with rat urine or droppings, or by consuming contaminated food or water.

Symptoms include fever, rash, vomiting, and joint pain. Without treatment, it can be fatal.

Parasites

Rats carry fleas, ticks, and mites that can transfer to humans and pets. These parasites can transmit their own diseases and cause painful bites and skin irritation.

How Contamination Spreads

You might think "I don't touch rats, so I'm safe" – but contamination spreads more easily than you'd expect:

1. Rats access your bin at night

2. They urinate and defecate on the bin, lid, and handle

3. In the morning, you touch the handle to wheel the bin out

4. You then touch your face, phone, door handle, or food

5. Bacteria enters your body

Children are at particular risk – they're more likely to touch bins, put hands in mouths, and play in gardens where rats have been.

Signs of Rat Activity Around Your Bins

Watch for these warning signs:

• Droppings: Dark, pellet-shaped, about 10-15mm long. Fresh droppings are shiny and soft; old ones are grey and crumbly.

• Gnaw marks: On bin bags, bin edges, or nearby wood/plastic.

• Greasy smear marks: Rats leave oily marks from their fur along regular routes.

• Scratching sounds: Particularly at night near bin storage areas.

• Burrows: Holes in the ground near bins or under sheds.

• Footprints: Look for tracks in dusty areas.
  

If you notice any of these, take action immediately.

How to Protect Your Family

Wash hands after touching bins

Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling your wheelie bin, especially before eating or preparing food.

Keep bins clean

A dirty bin attracts rats with food smells and provides nutrients even from residue. Regular professional cleaning eliminates these attractants.

Wear gloves when handling bins

Consider keeping a pair of rubber gloves near your bins for handling them, especially if you've seen signs of rat activity.

Secure your bins

Keep rats out by following these key steps:

• Always keep your bin lid firmly closed – use a bungee cord or bin lock if needed

• Never put loose food waste directly in the bin – always bag and tie securely

• Double-bag meat, fish, and strong-smelling scraps

• Position bins away from walls and fences that rats can climb

• Check for and seal any holes or cracks in your bin (rats can squeeze through gaps as small as 15mm)

• Don't leave bins out overnight before collection

• Clean your bins regularly to eliminate the food smells that attract rats
  

Clean up any evidence

If you find rat droppings near your bins, clean them up carefully wearing gloves and a mask. Disinfect the area thoroughly. Don't sweep or vacuum dry droppings as this can spread contaminated dust.

Don't ignore the problem

Rats breed rapidly – a pair can produce 2,000 offspring in a year. A small problem becomes an infestation very quickly. If you see rats regularly, consider professional pest control.

When to Seek Medical Attention

If you've had contact with rats or rat-contaminated areas and develop any of these symptoms, see a doctor and mention the potential rat exposure:

• Fever and flu-like symptoms

• Severe headache

• Muscle pain

• Vomiting or diarrhoea

• Rash

• Yellowing of skin or eyes (jaundice)
  

Early treatment of rat-borne diseases significantly improves outcomes.

Clean Bins = Fewer Rats

The best protection is prevention. Rats are attracted to bins by the smell of food. A clean, sanitised bin doesn't broadcast these smells and is far less attractive to rodents.

At JustBinCleaned, we eliminate the odours and residue that attract rats. Our sanitising treatment kills bacteria on bin surfaces, reducing contamination risks for your family.

Regular cleaning every 4 weeks keeps your bins unappealing to rats year-round.

Don't let your wheelie bin become a health hazard. Protect your family with regular professional bin cleaning.

JustBinCleaned serves Basildon, Southend, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Grays, and most Essex areas.

Book online: justbincleaned.co.uk | Call: 07518 111 799