RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

City thoroughly cleans cars to stop possible contamination after an investigation uncovered bed bugs.

Bethlehem police had to take four vehicles out of service for a few days for a possible bedbug contamination, an official said.

The vehicles were parked after officers were called to a death investigation shortly after midnight Friday in the 1000 block of Carlisle Street, said police Capt. David Kravatz.

The woman's death is not suspicious, police said. While inside her home, officers saw bedbugs, Kravatz said.

Four vehicles used by officers on the call were taken out of service until they could be treated for a possible bedbug contamination. By Monday afternoon, the vehicles had been decontaminated and thoroughly washed before they were put back on the road.

"It was a precautionary measure and a courtesy to our officers to take those vehicles out of service to make sure that if there are bedbugs, they don't spread anywhere else," Kravatz said.

A handful of vehicles have been taken out of service before to be treated for possible bedbug infestations, and that problem could increase due to recent record-high temperatures, Kravatz said.

But dirty police vehicles are hardly unusual and are a less-than-glamorous aspect of police work that the public may not often see, he said.

Officers are often subjected to unsanitary conditions including garbage, fleas, roaches and ticks.

Any call involving a skunk may take a police vehicle out of commission for a few days, Kravatz said.

Skunks spotted during the day are often put down by police officers, for fear the animals may be rabid. But he said some officers may be willing to remove a smelly skunk carcass to help a distressed resident.

"I've had new officers even double-bag the skunk, thinking that would contain the smell," he said. "That never works. Even though the car is scrubbed clean, it seems like that smell lingers for days."

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the flu and common colds going around, it’s hard enough already to stay healthy during the winter, but a rodent infestation could mean a host of other potential health concerns. Rodents can contaminate food sources with feces that can spread Salmonella and Hantavirus. With rodents invading an estimated 21 million homes every winter, the threat to consumers is very real.

“Rodent infestations are cause for concern because not only do they pose risks for your home, but for your family’s health and safety as well”

In addition to the contamination they could cause, rodents can also bring other pests into the home, such as lice, fleas, ticks and mites. What’s more, mice can cause damage to property by gnawing on wood, walls and wires. The latter could potentially cause house fires if significant damage is done.

“Rodent infestations are cause for concern because not only do they pose risks for your home, but for your family’s health and safety as well,” said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. “It is crucial to take steps to prevent rodent infestations and to recognize the signs that you might have one.”

NPMA offers the following tips to recognize and avoid rodent infestations this winter:

• Inspect wires, insulation and walls for any signs of gnaw marks, which may indicate an infestation.
• Store boxes and containers off of the floor and organize items often to prevent rodents from residing in undisturbed areas.
• Install gutters or diverts to channel water away from your home.
• Seal cracks and holes on your home’s exterior, including areas where utilities and pipes enter.
• If you find rodent feces, hear sounds of scurrying in the walls or observe other signs of an infestation, contact a licensed pest professional to inspect and treat the pest problem.

Source: National Pest Management Association

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

5 TIPS TO REDUCE TICK PRESSURE AROUND YOUR HOME

1. Mow the lawn to keep grasses and weeds short. Current guidelines recommend mowing every 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the season and how fast the grass is growing.

2. Ticks enjoy damp, dark places, and a cozy nest is a great place for them to hide. Remove bird nests and bird feeders from the lawn. Remove wood piles, as these not only serve as nests for tick-carrying rodents, they also can attract termites.

3. Fence your backyard to contain deer and other wildlife.

4. Mulch around swing sets, play areas and sand boxes.

5. Avoid including tick-harboring plants, like pachysandra and other low lying vegetation that provide shading close to the ground.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

New Tick-Borne Disease Is Discovered

A new tick-borne disease that may be stealthily infecting some Americans has been discovered by Yale researchers working with Russian scientists.

The disease is caused by a spirochete bacterium called Borrelia miyamotoi, which is distantly related to Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes Lyme disease.

B. miyamotoi has been found — albeit relatively rarely — in the same deer tick species that transmit Lyme, and the Yale researchers estimate that perhaps 3,000 Americans a year pick it up from tick bites, compared with about 25,000 who get Lyme disease.

But there is no diagnostic test for it in this country, so it is not yet known whether it has actually made any Americans sick.

The same short course of antibiotics that normally cures Lyme also seems to cure it.

In Russia, where a team in the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg developed a test that can distinguish miyamotoi from other tick-borne spirochetes, it caused higher fevers than Lyme disease typically does. In about 10 percent of cases, the fevers repeatedly disappear and return after a week or two.

The study by the two teams is to be published soon in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Since the disease was only recently discovered, it is unknown whether it does serious long-term damage, as untreated Lyme disease can.

The Yale medical school researchers — Durland Fish, an entomologist, and Dr. Peter J. Krause, an epidemiologist — have recently won a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the symptoms and develop a rapid diagnostic kit.

Dr. Fish found B. miyamotoi in American ticks 10 years ago, but was repeatedly refused a study grant until the Russians proved it caused illness. “It’s been like pulling teeth,” he said. “Go ask the N.I.H. why.”

The discovery will no doubt add to the controversy surrounding Lyme disease. While most Lyme victims are cured by a two-week course of antibiotics, some have symptoms that go on for years and believe they have persistent infections that the antibiotics did not reach.

Most medical authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Infectious Disease Society of America, take the position that “chronic Lyme disease” does not exist and that those victims either have other illnesses or are hypochondriacs. They oppose the solution demanded by some self-proclaimed victims: long-term intravenous antibiotics.

Dr. Krause said it was unlikely that the new spirochete could be responsible for chronic Lyme, because the symptoms do not match: Most of those who think they have chronic Lyme complain of fatigue and joint pain, not repeated fevers.

But he said doctors might consider the new infection, especially in patients who think they have been bitten by ticks, come up negative on Lyme tests and have recurrent episodes of fever.

B. miyamotoi does not appear to cause the “bull’s-eye rash” that helps doctors diagnose Lyme disease, the Russian team found.

“People shouldn’t panic,” Dr. Krause said. “And they also should not jump to the conclusion that we’ve found the cause of chronic Lyme disease. It’s not highly likely, but it’s possible. We just don’t know.”

The miyamotoi spirochete was discovered in Japan in 1995. It was at first believed to be limited to those islands.

In 2001, Dr. Fish found it in about 2 percent of the deer ticks in the Northeast and Upper Midwest and proved that mice could pick it up from tick bites.

Source = NY Times

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Mild Weather Keeps Pest Numbers High

Last year’s unusual weather produced a banner crop of deer ticks in New England, and Sam Telford could not be happier. Well into last month, the researcher was still able to collect ticks - lots of them - for his studies.

“It’s not just me. I have a colleague in Rhode Island. He claims he’s been able to collect more than 15,000 ticks this fall. I am so envious. It’s like one-upmanship among us tick biologists,” Telford said from his office at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, where he is a professor of infectious diseases.

Based on collections at sites in Medfield, Dover, Yarmouth, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard, Telford estimates that the tick population was three to five times larger than usual for early winter. He attributed the increase to last summer’s dearth of truly hot and dry weather, which usually kills a lot of ticks.

Telford’s counts involve dragging a light-colored, 1-square-meter cloth behind him as he walks through likely areas. At intervals, he stops and collects any ticks clinging to the cloth, compiling a tick-per-minute count.

“We were getting three ticks per minute at most sites, and as many as five ticks per minute,’’ he said, whereas the year before “we were lucky to get just one per minute.”

Mild temperatures well into last month also kept the ticks active later in the year than usual - a boon for scientists like Telford, but potential trouble for the unwary who do not take the same precautions in cooler months as in summer.

The population spike took place even as authorities continued efforts to curb the spread of tick-borne Lyme disease through expanded hunting of deer in towns like Dover and Medfield. A single deer can feed up to 100 adult ticks a week, with the ticks dropping off after four days of feeding and moving on to their next stage of life: laying eggs.

“Every tick that feeds can lay 2,000 eggs, so you look at places like Dover and Medfield, where they are actively trying to curb their deer populations through hunting, with all these ticks out there, the removal of one deer can prevent an awful lot of reproduction,” said Telford, who had 80 engorged adult female ticks, recently plucked off a single Nantucket deer, living in an incubator in his office.

It is too early to say whether the boom in deer ticks has been accompanied by an increase in Lyme disease cases. The state will not release its tally for last year until spring.

Reports of Lyme disease have risen for most of the past decade across Massachusetts, most dramatically in communities west of Boston. Statewide, there were 4,116 confirmed cases in 2008 and 4,061 in 2009, according to the state Department of Public Health.

But the number dropped off sharply in 2010, with 2,627 confirmed cases. Dr. Catherine Brown, state public health veterinarian, said the decline was directly related to the hot and dry summer of 2010 taking a toll on the tick population.

While Brown expects the number of Lyme cases to rise along with the tick population, Telford is not so certain.

Historically, 95 percent of new cases of Lyme disease are reported in May and June, when ticks are much smaller and harder to spot, Telford said. Just 5 percent of cases get reported in fall, when the ticks have become larger adults.

“That does not mean people should not be aware and remove the ticks, or prevent them coming on to them by using repellents, taking showers after being in the woods, and doing a tick check,’’ Telford said. “You don’t want to kick a dead skunk.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA