RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

RODENTS & MICE

Visitors who stayed in some of the dwellings in June, July and August, may have been exposed to the disease that also caused two other people to fall ill.

The rustic tent cabins of Yosemite National Park have become the scene of a public health crisis after two visitors died from a rodent-borne disease following overnight stays.

On Tuesday, park officials sent letters and emails to 1,700 visitors who stayed in some of the dwellings in June, July and August, warning them that they may have been exposed to the disease that also caused two other people to fall ill.

Those four people contracted hantavirus pulmonary syndrome after spending time in one of the 91 “Signature Tent Cabins” at Curry Village around the same time in June. The illness is spread by contact with rodent feces, urine and saliva, or by inhaling exposed airborne particles.

After the first death, the park sanitized the cabins and alerted the public through the media that the cause might have been diseased mice in the park.

However, officials did not know for sure the death was linked to Yosemite or the campsite until the Centers for Disease Control determined over the weekend that a second visitor, a resident of Pennsylvania, also had died.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

U.S. Marshals Seize Products of Rodent-Infested Fremont Food Company

The U.S. Marshals Service, acting on the order of a federal court, seized food products Tuesday made by a Fremont food company infested with rodents, federal prosecutors said.

The product seizure at the San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Company warehouse occurred after prosecutors filed a complaint in a San Francisco court, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said.

From July 3-16, federal and state officials inspected the warehouse at 47444 Kato Road and discovered a widespread pest infestation, including live and dead rodents and insects on and around food; rodent nesting materials in food; urine-stained packages of food; and rodent excrement pellets on and in food, prosecutors said.

The company has been closed since July 11.

The U.S. Marshals Service will destroy the seized food products if no one tries to claim them after 30 days, authorities said.

The joint investigation is being conducted by the Food and Drug Administration and the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch.

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 

Mouse Scurries Around Bag of McDonald’s Hamburger Rolls: Employee Catches Rodent on Cell Phone Video

A former fast food employee says mice ran rampant in the Philadelphia McDonald’s where he worked, and he caught it all on tape, Fox News reported.

Video shows a mouse scurrying around inside a plastic bag filled with hamburger buns at the McDonald’s on Stenton Avenue in the West Oak Lake section of Philadelphia, where Karrium Demaio, 29, worked.

Demaio says he frequently saw mouse droppings, and was told to brush them off the bread and serve them to customers.

“There hasn’t been a time when we couldn’t go in the back and see mouse droppings on the bread,” he said.

He told Fox News he revealed the video, which was shot in November, because he wanted to warn customers.

“That wasn’t the first time. That was about the sixth or seventh time,” he said. “That’s what made me like, I got to get video of this.

“I was going back there to get something else and I heard some rustling, so I turned around, and I look, I seen a mouse inside the bread. Not on top of the package, but inside of the package.”

Demaio worked at the store from October 2010 to January of this year, when he was fired for skipping a shift.

He told Fox News that he’s worked at two other McDonald’s, but had never seen something like this.

The McDonald’s is “not in satisfactory compliance,” according to the Philadelphia Health Department, but inspectors did not cite evidence of rodents.

The store says it will address concerns the video surfaced.

“After viewing the video, we are going to continue to investigate this claim to make certain we have all the facts,” McDonalds owner and operator Ken Youngblood said in a statment.

“I want my customers to know that I am taking this matter seriously and will immediately address any issues that may exist. Therefore, if necessary, we will work with the appropriate authorities to get the facts.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Defending itself from a lawsuit claiming that an Illinois man found a dead mouse inside a can of Mountain Dew, PepsiCo contends that a rodent would have disintegrated and been transformed into a “jelly-like” substance between the time of the soft drink’s bottling and the day the plaintiff reportedly purchased the soda from a vending machine at his office. In a court response to a motion filed by Ronald Ball--who claims to have found the dead mouse in a Mountain Dew can about three years ago--PepsiCo filed a fascinating/revolting affidavit from Lawrence McGill, a veterinarian who noted that he was “familiar with the effects an acidic fluid, such as common soda drinks including Mountain Dew, will have on mice and other animals.”

According to McGill, if a mouse is submerged in Mountain Dew between four and seven days, the rodent “will have no calcium in its bones and bony structures.” During those days of soft drink immersion, “the mouse’s abdominal structure will rupture.” Additionally, “its cranial cavity (head) is also likely to rupture within that time period,” McGill noted.

After 30 days exposure to Mountain Dew, “all of the mouse’s structures” would have disintegrated to the point that it would not be recognizable. In fact, “the mouse will have been transformed into a ‘jelly-like’ substance.” The only part of the rodent that could possibly survive, added McGill, was “a portion of the tail.”

PepsiCo contends that Ball, 52, opened his can of Mountain Dew 74 days after it was bottled at a PepsiCo facility in St. Louis. The company alleges that Ball has provided “no evidence” that the mouse was inside the can when it was sealed in August 2008.

In his Illinois Circuit Court lawsuit, which is pending in Madison County, Ball alleges that he opened the Mountain Dew can, “took a drink, and immediately became violently ill such that he began to vomit.” Subsequent to Ball being stricken, “the contents of said can of Mountain Dew were immediately poured into a styrofoam cup wherein a dead mouse was found.”

The rodent was eventually turned over by Ball to a PepsiCo insurance adjuster. McGill, pictured above, subsequently examined the animal and concluded that it was a young mouse or rat, no older than four weeks old at the time of its death. The rodent, according to his affidavit, had not even been born when the Mountain Dew can was sealed, and was already dead when it “entered the Mountain Dew fluid.”

McGill reported that the pH level of Ball’s Mountain Dew can was 3.43, which according to the veterinarian “indicates the fluid was acidic and within the normal range for Mountain Dew.”

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

UPDATE: Wal-Mart Deli, Bakery Reopen After Rodent Problem

The deli and the bakery at the Wal-Mart superstore in Lebanon have reopened after being shut down for a rodent problem.

News 8 initially reported the problem on Thursday, Aug. 4. A store spokeswoman said the problem was first discovered at the end of June but that pest control efforts were unsuccessful. The spokeswoman would not say what type of rodent had gotten into the store.

Here is the complete statement the company issued on Thursday:

"Unfortunately it has come to our attention that rodents have found their way into our store in Lebanon, Pa. We are aware of the situation and we are working to resolve this issue.

As part of our commitment to food safety, the bakery and deli remain closed until the problem can be corrected. We’re working with a pest control company, a professional cleaning service and the Department of Agriculture to remedy the situation.

We make every effort to ensure our stores are clean and pest free and apologize to our customers for this inconvenience. Once the Department of Agriculture inspects our store and gives us the okay to re-open, we will."

On Friday, a company spokesperson updated the situation, saying the store had passed the inspection and the deli and bakery are open for business

Source = wgal.com

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

A fifth case of Hantavirus has been confirmed in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Department of Health says a 59-year-old woman from McKinley County is hospitalized at University Hospital in critical condition with the infection.

Three people have died from Hantavirus in the state this year while a 39-year-old man from McKinley County has recovered from the infection, which is transmitted through rodents feces, urine and saliva. People usually catch the infection by breathing in dust from areas of rodent infestations.

Early symptoms of Hantavirus infection include fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough, which progresses to respiratory distress.

Symptoms develop within one to six weeks after rodent exposure. Chances for recovery are better if medical attention is sought early.

Source = Associated Press

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA