Transcript Rodent pests, their biology, signs of infestation and control.

Pest Control
Moray Anderson
Technical Director
Killgerm Group
Pest Control
Rodents
Insects
Pest Control
What to look for when auditing premises:
Rodent pests
- signs of activity
- baiting strategies
Insect pests
- signs of activity
- potential for disease transfer
Simple Steps
to Effective Auditing
• Pest activity
• Storage
• Hygiene/housekeeping
• Monitoring points
• Proofing
• Fly control units
• Paperwork
Paperwork.
• Reports…are they clear and accurate?
• Routine visits….are they frequent and
evenly spaced?
• Follow up visits…. correct intervals?
• Pesticides….type and use recorded?
• Risk/COSHH assessments carried out?
• Signatures….by technician and client?
FREQUENCY
OF RODENT BAITING
•
•
•
•
Monthly?
Fortnightly?
Weekly?
Continuous pest
activity needs riddance
programmes in place
• Non-infested sites need
proofing
• Not just bait checking
Effective auditing
Pest Activity…….
(Infestation?)
“A breeding population of pests
in an area where its presence
will be detrimental to humans,
their activities or their health”
Signs of Activity …Rodents.
•
•
•
•
•
Nests
Damage
Burrows
Contamination
Smell
• Droppings
• Smears
• Foot prints/tail
swipes
Nest - mouse
Nest - rat
Mouse damage
– Gnawing cables.
Rat damage
Burrows
Bait and mouse droppings.
Rat droppings
Footprints/Tail Swipes
Smears
Home range…
• Rat…Has a large home range, 15-30 metres, but in rural
populations can forage for two or three miles in search of
food.
• House mouse…Very territorial, small home range.
Typically 3-6 metres.
The common rat has the behavioural characteristic called
neophobia.
This neophobic re-action makes them very wary of new objects
placed in their territory.
House mice are less “nervous” and will be more likely to explore
new objects.
Monitoring/Control points
Rodent bait boxes
CONDITION
• Old stale bait
• Water-logged bait
• Baits damaged by
insects/slugs
• Unsuitable bait
containers (spiders’
webs and “wobbly”
bait boxes, etc.)
FORMULATIONS
• Vary the products
– Grain bait
– Block bait
– Soft/pasta bait
OR
– Traps
– Tack boards
– Gels and dusts
APPLICATION
•
•
•
•
•
Cardboard
Plastic
Box
Tray
Loose
Effective auditing
Insects
Signs of Activity …Insects.
•
•
•
•
Live Insects
Bodies
Damage
Contamination
• Webbing, etc.
• Trails in dust
• Disease
Check Monitoring Devices where present
Insect Pests in Food Premises
(CIEH booklet)
• Dermestid beetles
– skin feeders
• birds nests
• dead animals
• dog and cat food
• Larder beetle
– Dermestes lardarius
–
–
–
–
–
Life cycle
Egg 2 – 9 days (100 – 700 per female)
Larva 35 – 80 days
Pupa 8 – 15 days
Adult 18 months
Insect Pests in Food Premises
• Tribolium confusum, confused flour
beetle.
Egg 4- 30 days (950)
Larva 15 – 98 days
Pupa 5 – 22 days
Adult 1.5 yrs
Houseflies
– The housefly (Musca domestica)
• Mechanical vectors of many different and
varied pathogens such as
–
–
–
–
bacteria
protozoa
viruses
helminth eggs
Houseflies
– Outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic colitis
– Outbreak occurred in nursery school in Japan
– an epidemiological survey isolated Escherichia
coli O157:H7 (EHEC-O157)
• EHEC-O157 isolated from houseflies collected in the
school
• EHEC-O157 isolated from patients
Houseflies
– The bacteria persist for a number of days but
also proliferate – how?
– Proliferation of EHEC-O157 takes place on the
mouthparts of the fly:
• kept moist by repeated regurgitation of gut contents,
saliva and frequent tasting of liquid nutrients.
• labellum provides perfect environment for proliferation
of EHEC-O157.
• labellum of flies is usually retracted
Houseflies
– These results suggest that houseflies are
not simple mechanical vectors of
EHECO157.
– For this type of transmission, a new
technical term, bioenhanced
transmission, was coined.
“Drain” flies
• F.
• F.
• F.
• F.
• F.
• F.
Psychodidae
Sciaridae
Drosophilidae
Phoridae
Sphaeroceridae
Sepsidae
Owl midges
Fungus flies
Fruit flies
Scuttle flies
Lesser dung flies