RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

EHS Pest's Sabrina Key and George Williams doing their part for the Boys and Girls Club of Boston!

A Helping Hand

Volunteers from NPMA’s Leadership Development Group volunteered time and effort at the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, just prior to PestWorld.

BOSTON — The Boys and Girls Club of Boston is looking refreshed, and its children left with a few buggy lessons and possibly new role models after the NPMA’s Leadership Development Group (LDG) volunteered its time there before PestWorld 2012 officially kicked off, earlier this month.

“The LDG decided collectively to make an effort to give back to the communities we travel to,” said Jen Marlowe, committee chair for LDG, adding that this idea came to a head several years ago during one NPMA Academy. Marlowe credited past LDG chairs Justin McCauley and Adam Witt in helping kick-start the initiative. At PestWorld 2011 in New Orleans, LDG assisted the local Habitat for Humanity chapter.

In Boston, Marlowe said the volunteer group was on site for over three hours, where they first helped with site maintenance needs – that included painting, picking up trash, raking leaves and weeding.

After, the group worked and interacted with about 60 kids under the age of ten. “We started with a presentation on ‘good bugs’ versus ‘bad bugs” and stressed the importance of using a professional,” Marlowe said. The group showed the children some “artifacts” from the field, including a wasp nest and containers damaged by chewing from rodents.

And of course, the kids got to get their hands on everyone’s favorite pest: the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

“Sometimes it’s hard to know the impact you make when trying to do good for others,” Marlowe said. “But luckily for us, the kids made this day very rewarding by wearing their enthusiasm, creativity and gratitude on their sleeves.

“We decided that this mission to give back will hopefully inspire other members of our industry to get involved in our efforts, or efforts within their own communities,” Marlowe continued. “But we also wanted people outside our industry to feel the need to pay it forward.”

Read the original article, click here.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Even more proof that insects are REALLY COOL! The attached images are of a Spittlebug (family Cercopidae). It is pretty obvious how they get their name! So if you see a plant that looks like somebody hocked a loogie on it then it is probably this insect.

They suck plant juices for food, and as nymphs they defend themselves by secreting a mucus type liquid from glands near their anus. They then blow bubbles in the liquid to whip it into a froth and then hide in their spit froth. They do this for two reasons, 1) It keeps them from drying out AND 2) It is a defense mechanism because it makes it harder for predators to find them.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

HELP!!!! MY ENTIRE GARAGE FLOOR IS CRAWLING WITH INSECTS!!!!

click image to enlarge

That was the frantic phone call we got into our office. I get there to do the inspection and the customer was right, there were a TRILLION insects all over the garage floor! What were they? Upon examining them they were grain beetles. Why in the garage? Now come the probing questions to the homeowner……Do you have bird seed stored here? NO. Dog food? NO. Grass seed? NO. Any type of food or seed? NO

Time to play Columbo and investigate the “crime scene”. Sure enough I see some beetles raining down from a shelf in the back of the garage. I move some items away and there it is, a 10LB box of dog biscuits! The husband confesses that he bought them at a big box store over a year prior because they had a deal on them. There were two boxes and they were so big and bulky that he stored one box in the garage and forgot about it. So I used my HEPA vacuum and physically removed all the beetles then treated the area and most importantly threw away the epically infested box of dog biscuits. Just look at all some of the beetles in the Ziploc bag and the damage they did to the bones.

Mike “Spike” McGoldrick
Service Supervisor
Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Cockroaches Make for Bad Neighbors

She wants out of her lease because of pesky insects that are taking over apartment.

"Sometimes we see them walking across the floor,” says Peggy Bublitz. “They come through the stove while we're cooking.”

She says cockroaches have taken over her Taylorsville apartment.

“They come through the vents and it oozes with sticky stuff,” she says. “Horrendous.”

That's why Bublitz keeps the light on at night. She says it keeps the cockroaches at bay.

For several weeks, Bublitz claims she has been seeing cockroaches take over.

And when she asked for help, the property manager for the Calloway Apartments sent over a pesticide company.

“They've been doing that for weeks now,” she says.

But she says cockroaches are still around and now she wants out of her lease without penalties.

“It's no way to live and I've begged them to get out of lease,” Bublitz says.

But the apartment's attorney says the cockroaches were brought in by a neighbor and it's not the landlord's fault.

“It's not a pleasant thing sometimes that when you have bad neighbors that do bad things and all the landlord can do is take the best action they can to remedy the problem," says Kirk Cullimore.

So she's stuck. She now duct tapes the stove, the windows and vents to keep cockroaches out.

“So I am to understand that I am going to have to live her for the duration of my lease sleeping with the roaches,” she says.

Cullimore says they can’t let her out of her lease because it’s about economics. He says if they let one tenant who complains they’d have to do it for the next person.

“They’d be bankrupt,” says Cullimore.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats Eat Wiring Of $1 Million Dollar Cath Lab Machine

The digital subtraction angiography (DSA) catheterisation laboratory machine, commonly called the cath lab machine, is a sophisticated piece of equipment worth Rs. 6.5 crore. It can perform angioplasty and angiography procedures, and is a specimen of how much medical science has advanced.

At Jagjivan Ram hospital in Mumbai Central, this high-tech scientific innovation -- reportedly the first such machine in the western region and the second in the country -- has been allowed to become rat food.

Lying at the facility since July 2011, the machine, which hasn't been used even once, has fallen prey to rodents that have nibbled its wiring, hospital sources said.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Cockroach Allergens May Play Key Role in the Development of the Asthma Epidemic.

Mucosal exposure to allergens leads to development of allergic sensitization. This may cause the development of asthma, which is characterized by chronic airway inflammation. Researchers studied the allergic effect of cockroach extracts in mice. It was found that exposure of mucosa (mucus secreting inner linings) to cockroach extract induces allergic reactions even in the absence of adjuvants.

More than 30% of the world’s population suffers atopy and allergic diseases. A study in 10 European countries showed that respiratory allergic conditions alone have a prevalence of up to 36.6%. These diseases pose severe global economic burden. In spite of all the efforts that spanned over the past three decades, the underlying mechanisms of allergic reactions have not been completely understood.

Cockroach allergens are an important cause of asthma exacerbations in many parts of the world. Early life exposure to cockroach allergens is supposed to lead to the development of specific allergic sensitization to cockroaches. The risk for persistent asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness is increased by childhood exposure. Cockroach-derived proteins that we inhale arise from several sources, including cockroach saliva, feces, cast skins, debris and dead bodies.

Most of the studies have been done in animal models. Animal models have aided profoundly in learning about the pathogenesis of allergic conditions, especially asthma. Animal models of asthma have a number of limitations. Humans and animals may differ in the development of allergic immune responses. An allergen may not evoke the same allergic reaction in animals as in humans. The utility of murine models of asthma as predictors of the response of human asthma to therapeutics has been a subject of controversy. Hence multiple models are required for better understandings.

A number of different models in mice have been developed for the purpose. Recent studies of allergic responses to cockroach extracts were performed in mice. The mucosa lining the nasal cavity of mice was exposed to cockroach extract. Hyperresponsiveness of airway and the allergic inflammation induced were assessed.

All the expected characteristics of asthma were found to develop in mice sensitized to cockroach through the intranasal route even in the absence of an adjuvant. These include airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), eosinophilic airway inflammation and allergen-specific IgG1 antibodies. Immune regulator proteins called Th2 cytokines and chemokines were found elevated. These immune reactions were noticed following exposure to allergens over a period of 2 weeks.

Most of the previous studies in mice were performed by intraperitoneal injection, i.e. injection into the body cavity, in the presence of an adjuvant. Another relevance of the current study is that it focuses on the regulation of the mucosal immune system in the lung. The mucosa lining body cavities play key roles in the body’s immune mechanism. The study of mucosal immunology had been restricted to gastrointestinal diseases so far.

The new study has presented a detailed analysis of a model of allergic sensitization. This model will definitely lead us to a better understanding of the role of cockroach allergens in allergic disease and in the inner city asthma epidemic.

Reference: Mucosal exposure to cockroach extract induces allergic sensitization and allergic airway inflammation: Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 2011, 7:22 doi:10.1186/1710-1492-7-22

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Pizzeria Cosed for Renovations has Reopened with a Bang, after “Do it Yourself” Pest Control Products Set by the Restaurant's Owner Exploded and Blew the Doors Off.

The owner of Mercadante Woodfired Pizzeria on Lygon Street, in the inner city suburb of Carlton, had set 10 fumigation cans in the restaurant and the vapours were ignited accidentally, causing an explosion at 10am (AEDT) on Friday.

The pressure of the explosion forced the front glass doors and back roller door of the restaurant out, said Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) commander Darren McQuade.

"The pressure rapidly expanded and has just forced out either end," Mr McQuade said.

The owner, who was in the restaurant setting more fumigation cans at the time of the explosion, was shaken but unhurt, he said.

The restaurant had been closed for renovations over the Christmas period.

No damage was done to the interior of the building, but the damage to the front and rear doors was worth about $50,000, Mr McQuade said.

He said it was lucky no passers-by had been hurt.

"One part of the window was one-and-a-half metres on to the footpath, so that would certainly have had the potential to push someone over had they been walking past at the time," he said.

Mr McQuade said there had been an increasing trend of explosions being caused by the incorrect use of fumigation cans.

He said the owner had not followed the instructions on the can, which indicate that ignition sources must be switched off.

Firefighters are investigating which appliance caused the explosion.

Click here to view the News Video

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Inspector's Findings of Roaches, Rodents Temporarily Close Restaurant

After finding live and dead roaches and rats, a state inspector ordered the emergency closure of a Northside restaurant last week to allow the business to correct conditions that “pose an elevated risk to the health, safety or welfare of the public or the establishment’s employees.”

During a routine, unannounced visit a week ago to Norwood Plaza Food Court, a safety and sanitation inspector with the state’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants issued the temporary order after noting two dozen critical violations in his report filed with agency and available on its website.

Norwood Plaza Food Court, at 5301 Norwood Ave., shares an address with the Norwood Plaza Flea Market near the Gateway Shopping Center north of downtown Jacksonville.

The restaurant reopened on Friday – nearly 48 hours after its closure – following a re-inspection. (Note: The results of that visit mandate another follow-up inspection.)

Here’s a summary of the inspector’s report, a public record:

Norwood Plaza Food Court

Violations: 37 total, 24 critical, including the following:

• Vegetables covered in mold in reach-in and walk-in coolers.
• Cheese not properly refrigerated.
• Dirty microwave.
• “Roach poop build-up” on “wall, pipes, along doors of walk in cooler and reach in cooler and freezer and fire extinguisher.”
• Employee hand wash sink in kitchen lacked hot and cold water, drying provisions and cleanser.
• Dead roaches: 20 on walk-in cooler and reach-in cooler gaskets; 35 under fryers; 20 in ice machine bin (not in use); 12 in warmers (not in use); 20 under walk-in cooler; and 7 in a sink with dirty dishes.
• Live roaches: 25 in gasket of walk-in cooler; 1 on reach-in cooler door; 1 on walk-in cooler wall; 3 on shelf by soda syrup; 5 in sink with dirty dishes.
• Rodent droppings: 36 inside single service item boxes; 40 on top of food storage; 40 on hot dog roller (not in use); 50 on floor by Coke refrigerator; 60 on front counter shelves; and 70 on floor under front counter.
• Dead rodents: 1 under fryer and 1 under ice machine.
• Live rodents: 1 in pot with grease.
• Expired restaurant license.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Occupy Protest Camps: Health Inspector Concerned Growing Rodent Problems

According to the District of Columbia's health inspector, the Occupy DC encampment in McPherson Square is experiencing worsening rodent infestations and deteriorating public health conditions.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Department of Health director Mohammad Akhter compared the situation to refugee camps he's toured in the Middle East and Africa.

Last week, Occupy DC voluntarily shut down its kitchen as D.C. health inspectors assessed the sanitary conditions of the camp, which first gathered in the downtown park near the White House on Oct. 1.

While downtown D.C. is no stranger to rodents, the presence of food in McPherson Square has made the park a draw for rats. And worsening winter weather conditions has raised the risk of illness in the camp, which is an expressed concern for public health officials.

While protest activity in the nation's capital has decreased since the fall, Occupy Wall Street-inspired activists from around the country are planning on converging on D.C. for "Occupy Congress" on Jan. 17, where protesters will take their message to Capitol Hill.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Firefighters: Bedbug “Do It Yourself” Spray Causes Fire

A fire that engulfed an apartment in Colerain on Friday night was partially caused by the use of a common bedbug deterrent, fire officials said.

Colerain Township firefighters said they received a call at about 9:30 p.m. reporting a fire on a second floor apartment in the 3500 block of West Galbraith Road.

Firefighters said they brought the fire under control at about 9:50 p.m. with the help of fire crews from Springfield Township and Green Township fire departments.

Authorities said a family of six, including four children, was displaced and receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

Fire officials said the residents of the apartment were using isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle to kill bedbugs. Officials said the home-remedy is common, but droplets formed by spraying the chemical dramatically increases the evaporation rate of the alcohol.

The vapor released is extremely flammable and was ignited by a cigarette, firefighters said.

No injuries were reported, firefighters said. The fire caused an estimated $30,000 in damage to the building and its contents.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA