RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Roaches With a Side of Mice? Health Dept. Says 17% More Eateries Failed Inspection in 2011

These numbers could make you sick.

The tally of restaurants shuttered by city health inspectors jumped more than 17% last year to 1,504 - up from 1,282 in 2010, the Daily News has learned.

The closures are fueled by a new letter grading system, which has also led to skyrocketing restaurant fines.

The Health Department banked $42.3 million in fines last year, nearly $10 million more than in 2010.

Restaurant owners fume that the violations are often trumped up and are eating away at profits.

"I haven't heard of an equivalent reduction in the number of food-borne illnesses as a result of the new system," said Andrew Rigie, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association.

The Bloomberg administration argues that the beefed-up inspections are compelling restaurants to clean up their act.

"The Department of Health will be looking at food-borne illnesses over time, but it is too early to know," agency spokesman John Kelly said.

Kelly noted that many of the shuttered restaurants reopened several days after fixing the cited problems.

Dirty floors and food that's been left out in the open, unprotected from mice and other rodents, topped the list of violations linked to a specific reason, records show.

There was a 35% increase in fines issued for mice discovered around food. The number of fines blamed on mice reached 18,384 during the fiscal year ending June 30, up from 13,657 in 2010.

Under the new system, eateries that don't ace their first tests get reinspected within about a month.

Restaurants can appeal their final score. If the owner appeals, a "Grade Pending" sign must be posted outside until an administrative judge reviews the case, generally in about four weeks.

The increased fines were expected, officials said.

"The agency actually anticipated an increase, because poorer-performing restaurants are now being inspected more quickly," Kelly said. "However, since the inception of the restaurant grading program, restaurants are improving, cycle to cycle."

That's in part due to help from high-priced consultants hired by many big-name restaurants.

"The Health Department has created an entire industry of consultants to help them pass their inspections," said Rigie.

"No one wants to see their customers get sick."

One Brooklyn restaurant owner said she has lost thousands of dollars appealing fines at administrative hearings. Fines range from $200 to $2,000.

"They are putting me out of business," said the owner, who did not want her name used. "How can I afford to pay $2,000 fines in this economy?"

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Alcoholic Mice Live to Drink

A new line of mice, bred to prefer alcohol over all other beverages, is expected to offer insight into the role genetics and lifestyle play in alcoholism. The mice drink more alcohol than other animal models and consume it in a fashion similar to humans: choosing alcohol over other options and binge drinking.

A study published in the journal Addiction Biology reports the mice reach blood-alcohol levels of more than 260 mg/dl of alcohol daily—over three times the equivalent of the human legal driving limit and the approximate consumption level that the severest human alcoholics attain.

“The free-choice drinking demonstrated by the new mouse line provides a unique opportunity to study the excessive intake that often occurs in alcohol-dependent individuals and to explore the predisposing factors for excessive consumption, as well as the development of physiological, behavioral and toxicological outcomes following alcohol exposure,” says senior author Nicholas Grahame, a biopsychologist specializing in alcoholism at Indiana University.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 17.6 million Americans abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be treated but cannot be cured.

Mice share 80 percent of their genes with humans, so they are an excellent model to study alcoholism, a disease with a strong genetic component. The risk of developing alcoholism is known to be influenced by lifestyle. Animal models allow researchers to employ methods that they are unable to use in humans.

“This line of high-alcohol-seeking mice should be able to give us a better understanding of the basic brain mechanism involved in alcohol consumption as well as greater insight into the toxic effects on the brain, with the goal of developing therapies,” says Grahame, whose research focuses on behavioral genetics and behavioral pharmacology.

As with humans, the mice become intoxicated when the pace of alcohol consumption is faster than the liver can eliminate it. Typically it takes six or seven hours of continuous alcohol drinking for the new strain of mice to reach the highest levels of intoxication.

Doctoral candidate Liana M. Matson is a co-author of the study. She has conducted research focusing on when the mice drink and determined that they are nocturnal drinkers. This knowledge enabled the mice’s blood-alcohol levels to be tested when at their highest level.

Undergraduate School of Science students Amy Buckingham and Nick Villalta assisted in the research by measuring intake and blood-alcohol levels in the new strain of high-alcohol-seeking mice. In a related study, they analyzed how drunk the mice became by testing how the animals performed on a balance beam.

The research was funded by NIAAA and the School of Science at IUPUI.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

HantaVirus Found in Trapped Rodents

Six rodents trapped during routine monitoring in the last week in North County and East County have tested positive for the potentially-deadly hantavirus.

Infected rodents rarely pose a danger to people if they are in the wild and there has been just one non-fatal human case in the county, in 2004. But people can inhale hantavirus by stirring up rodent droppings, then get sick and even die. There is no treatment, vaccine or cure for hantavirus infections, which are deadly in 38 percent of cases.

“People should never sweep up or vacuum rodent droppings or nesting material when they find it,” said Jack Miller, director of the County Department of Environmental Health. “Instead, they should ventilate closed areas for at least 30 minutes, and then carefully use bleach or a full-strength disinfectant before removing them.”

The best way people can prevent the disease is to keep mice out of houses, garages and sheds by sealing holes larger than the size of a dime, County officials said.

Hantavirus can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which begins with flu-like symptoms but can grow into severe breathing difficulties and even death.

The rodents that tested positive during the last week included: two deer mice from Campo; one deer mouse each from Carlsbad and Escondido; one harvest mouse from Oceanside and a vole from Carlsbad. Thirty-seven rodents have tested positive for hantavirus in the county this year, compared to 21 in 2010.

Source: Associated Press

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

click image to enlarge

In today’s tough economic and housing climate there are residential houses that are vacant for extended periods of time. Months long is not uncommon and in some cases it may be a year or more. It is worse when it is a foreclosure when the occupants leave with no notice and leave many possessions behind. In some cases they leave behind food items, grass seed, bird food, pet food, etc. A total buffet for pests!

The problem with houses like this is that pests often find the house and can get out of hand in a short period of time. Mice are a perfect pest for these situations. They are prolific breeders so in 3 months the number of mice in a home can quadruple! The environment is perfect for them, the house is vacant, quiet, dark, and there is always food and nesting material left behind.

The attached picture shows you exactly this scenario. Mice got so out of control in this vacant house that they created heavy runways (travel routes) into voids. The picture shows a gnaw hole created into a floor void from the basement level. You can see the “greasy” rub marks that are created when mice frequent the same paths. These rub marks are from the lanolin (oil) on their fur. In this case the buyers home inspector pointed out that there was a high level of mouse activity and they should contact a professional. EHS performed an initial treatment and excluded the mice out at the foundation level. We then did a 30 day follow up and have a 6 month follow up on the books. The treatment program with 1 year warranty was enough to satisfy the bank plus buyer and the home was sold. See, professional pest control is good for the economy!

Alex Johnson
Service Specialist
Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

It is scary what some commercial businesses, property managers, and homeowners do! The attached image show’s someone that tried to do their own pest control to solve a mice issue. As you can tell there is a tremendous risk to safety!

There is a reason why professional pest control makes sense, we are licensed and highly trained professionals. When it comes to protecting public health & safety you should never look for the quick and easy fix…..call a professional like EHS. You are risking WAY TOO MUCH if you cut corners!

Mark Tremblay
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA