The office of the Welfare Division in Roseau is infested with Bats and the staff has lodged several health complains and it appears to be falling on deaf ears.
Nature Isle News (NIN) can confirm that the environmental health department after several complaints commissioned an investigation into the matter and the report is “damning.”
The report speaks about the poor health conditions in the department and concluded that the environment is “unfit for work.”
We have been able to see a full copy of the report but to protect individuals we are not at this time at liberty to reveal its full contents.
NIN went to the department to speak to staff, but they declined to comment on the matter. “No comments” were the responses we got.
We also sort comments from the Chief Environmental Health Officer Tassie Thomas who said that she was not at liberty to discuss the matter with the press. “This is a government institution…I cannot discuss the contents of the report with you,” she stated.
Staff at the department have been complaining of breathing issues associated with the unpleasant odor of the Bats and their droppings in the building. Some have even gone to the doctor and have been placed on medical leave since some of them are suffering from various health conditions.
The damage bats cause can range from physical or structural damage to health and safety damage. Having bats inhabiting your house may result in a strong, unpleasant odor due to their droppings or guano left in your chimney, walls, and attic.
Bats are nature’s exterminators. But as great as they are for the ecosystem, they pose a health hazard if they take up residence in your attic.
According to research, Bat guano (poo) carries fungal spores that can cause a lung disease known as histoplasmosis. It’s a fungus that people can get from breathing in spores in the air outdoors or inside, like in the attic.
Histoplasmosis is caused by a fungus that lives in soil, particularly where there’s a large amount of bird or bat poop. People can get histoplasmosis by breathing in fungal spores, and infection can be mild or life-threatening.
Most people don’t usually get sick from breathing in the fungus. And the people that do get sick usually feel very tired and have a cough and fever, but feel better on their own, without medication. However, histoplasmosis can be a serious health issue for infants or those with a “weakened immune system”, especially where guano is confined, like in an attic. If a bat infestation is not taken care of, guano will build up in the attic and can cause the people living in the home to become ill.