RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Rats Given 20 Beers in Two Hours, But Recovered Their Balance in 15 Minutes

A chemical from an ancient herbal remedy makes rats almost immune to the effects of alcohol. Rats who've consumed the drug can consume vast quantities of alcohol without passing out, show few signs of a hangover - and don't become alcoholics, even after weeks of solid drinking, say researchers. The chemical is extracted from an ancient Asian remedy - a seed first used as a hangover cure in the year 659. Rats respond to alcohol in a very similar way to humans. The UCLA researchers now aim to find out if the compound will work in humans.

The Asian seeds - from the tree Hovenia Dulcis - was first used as a hangover cure in the year 659, according to Science Daily. The researchers began their study by looking at herbal compounds that supposedly had 'anti alcohol' effects. They rapidly homed in on the Asian seed. They tested one ingredient - called DHM or dihydromyricetin in the rats.

The rats were given the equivalent of 15 to 20 bottled beers in two hours. Most animals passed out, and remained motionless when flipped over. When given DHM, the rats could 'handle' their drink better. They took longer to get drunk, and seemed to sober up in about 15 minutes. The compound seemed to help rats dealing with hangover anxiety, too. Rats recovering from a binge seemed to perk up when given the compound. Perhaps most importantly for medical professionals, the chemical seems to stop rats wanting to drink. Although rats on DHM can drink more, they don't. 'When you drink alcohol with DHM, you never become addicted,' says the lead researcher, Jing Liang in research published in Journal of Neuroscience. The drug appears to work by blocking a brain receptor. Other promising anti-alcohol drugs have targeted the same receptor - but also caused seizures.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Post Office Overrun by RATS as Rodents Devour Parcels........
So if You Don't Get Any Presents This Year Now You Know Why

With 16.5 billion letters, packages and cards expected through the U.S. Postal Service this holiday season, the last obstacle senders might expect their packages to face, are thieving rats.

A post office in Manhattan is fighting a rat infestation leaving chewed boxes and envelopes that carries any item found edible, by both human and rodent taste.

Packages found deliverable despite their outside damage of visible gnawing and gaping holes are showing up in the hands of their recipients as mere shells. The little animals can smell the chocolate and goodies,' Maureen Marion, a USPS spokeswoman for the North East told the New York Times, whose office has found the most reported damaged packages.

At Midtown they’ve been very good at putting things in cabinets to keep them away from nibbles, but this time of year they just have more packages than they do have space to accommodate them,' Ms Marion said.

One New York Times employee expecting a treat from The Vermont Brownie Company says they opened a gnawed box to find only a card inside.

Our brownies are individually wrapped so they stay fresh,' the company's note read to the recipient.

Other more sturdy boxes, in one example holding a gift of international chocolates, arrived to their office building more lucky they report with mere teeth marks around the packaging.

It's a surprise since the kind of rats that infest New York City called the Norway rat, are capable of chewing through glass, cinder block, wire, aluminum and lead, according to the National Pest Management Association.

Without the total number of known packages destroyed at other post office branches around the city, with a report by the Gothamist suggesting a second office in the city, a worker at the midtown office signaled to a Times' reporter:

They do have a problem with rats here,' a worker at the office confessed to their reporter.

I've seen one, downstairs on the work floor. It was big, they said.

In size, the average subway rat in Manhattan is 16 inches long, with its thick, tapering tail accounting for about half of that length, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. On Monday the post office changed its usual visitation by an exterminator from every two weeks to once a week.

Ms Marion says that for items damaged in handling,' unless they were insured, there is no ability for compensation, 'regardless of the nature of the damage

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Feds Remove Food from Rodent-Infested Warehouse

Federal authorities seized food from a Streamwood warehouse Monday after investigators found a "widespread and active rodent infestation" inside the building, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Criminal investigators with the Food and Drug Administration also executed a search warrant Monday at the Chetak Chicago LLC facility, signaling a criminal probe of the conditions at the suburban location.

The developments come after the FDA found 25 live and 12 dead rodents at the warehouse between Aug. 15 and Sept. 1, authorities said. FDA investigators also spotted birds inside the 108,000-square-foot building as well as gnawed and urine-stained food packages, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Investigators also found rodents' nesting materials inside the building. Gaps in the doors and the foundation allowed animals to enter, prosecutors said.

FDA investigators returned to the building twice in late September, but the problems had not been fixed, authorities said.

The discoveries prompted federal prosecutors to file a lawsuit alleging that all food inside the building can be seized unless stored in a freezer or in glass or metal containers. A federal judge signed a warrant allowing deputy U.S. marshals to seize the food.

The facility, located at 1111 E. Lake St. in the northwest suburb, stores food including rice, flour, shelled peanuts, cookies, dried coconut and spices, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Chetak receives the food from India and throughout the United States and sells it to restaurants and retailers in about 20 states and Canada, officials said.

No food has been shipped from the building since Aug. 17, when the Illinois Department of Public Health imposed an embargo on the facility, officials said.

The U.S. attorney's office said "there are no known immediate public health risks posed by the seized food" and that no illnesses have been traced to the food.

Officials with Chetak could not be reached for comment.

Source = Associated Press

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Health Violations Cited in Palm Beach County School Inspections

Palm Beach County public and private schools are frequently cited by health inspectors for a variety of violations, which run from rodent droppings in classrooms and broken drinking fountains and toilets, to locked bathrooms used as storage closets, according to reports.

Since 2009, schools have racked up 128 violations for vermin problems and 479 citations for faulty fountains, among other repeated offenses, records show.

But despite these unsanitary conditions, schools rarely are fined or receive unsatisfactory ratings, because the violations usually are not considered dangerous for students and teachers. And most importantly, education typically continues despite the nuisances.

A review of inspection reports show what some students face during the school day:

Rat waste in two rooms in a classroom building at Royal Palm Beach High School: "School buildings must be rat proofed," an inspector wrote in the school's satisfactory June report. "Note: Staff suspects a rodent nest above ceiling tiles." Pest control is a never-ending concern, he added, with cases flaring up at about one out of every 10 campuses, records show.

"When you start seeing rodents and roaches and vermin, there are sources of water and food at the school," Mets said. "You have to find the access points and seal them up."

A public outcry last year about an abundance of rodents and roaches at three aging elementary schools in the Glades helped to persuade the Palm Beach County School Board to approve three major school renovation projects. In 2007, the district spent more than $150,000 on rat-proofing building repairs at Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School. The campus became susceptible to vermin because of hurricane damage in 2004 and a later air conditioner replacement that exposed holes in ceilings.

School rodent problems rarely get so bad they disrupt classes, but in December eight kindergarten classes at Tamarac Elementary in Broward County were relocated to other rooms. To attack the infestation, the school trimmed nearby trees and set traps.

One of the worst local problems in recent years occurred at St. Juliana Catholic School in West Palm Beach. In 2007, a barrage of rats and mice forced the school to close for three days while a pest-control company exterminated the property. It was reopened after the Health Department conducted an inspection with school officials.

Routine inspections usually take one to two hours and cover eight major categories, including school sanitation, bathrooms, trash and vermin control. Even something as minor as a broken paper towel holder is checked off.

"Anything that might cause harm, a broken window, that's something they would deal with right away," said Wilson, the county inspector. "We take everything seriously."

Source = Associated Press

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA