A recent story in the news brings to light – the caution needed when doing work in crawlspaces or attic areas. If you live in the Southwest you need to be aware of hantavirus – “Adams County, CO man dies of hantavirus“.
Urine or feces which if dried, can be inhaled and brought into your lungs and then the symptoms really begin – they include fever, chills, headache & severe muscle pain, especially in the lower back and legs.
Photo by NPMA
“EPA pesticide bans threaten you and the economy” by Alan Caruba.
Not killing pests, insects and rodents, is a great way to put everyone’s health in jeopardy. New York City announced a new war in May against rats and will spend $600,000 to hire new inspectors to deal with an increased population. Lyme disease and West Nile Fever are just two of the diseases that require serious insect pest control. A wide variety of insects spread many diseases from Salmonella to Hantavirus. Termites do billions in property damage every year.
I’m a big believer in IPM or Integrated Pest Management – the use of all things in your toolbox before you get or have to use pesticide. There are many things out there that can kill you and all I’m saying is that we have to use common sense in our actions. Everyone touts these GREEN oils and products and if they all worked as well as pesticides I would think we as an industry would use them more and more. But the facts are not conclusive yet that they hold up as long or kill as efficiently as pesticides do. We are using more and more inside versus pesticide because we promote outside first and inside only as the last option.
New cases of things that you probably thought were gone rebound from time to time. California has recently issued a notice about Bubonic Plague from the Sacramento Bee by Bill Lindelof “El Dorado warns of plague danger, urges avoidance of rodents“.
Every once in awhile we run across Hanta Virus or the Plague here in Arizona, the risk is really an issue in places where deer mice or rodents are on the run.
So what do you do?
Picture provided by Univar
Sometimes you never know what you might find!
One of the biggest challenges in servicing a large warehouse is keeping out the rodents especially in the winter. Just like us animals/wildlife like to be warm and have a roof over their head. So they try really hard to get into our homes or businesses. One single mouse could shut down a warehouse or facility, so it is extremely important to stay on top of these little critters. The first line of defense is the exterior of the building and then the interior. If you can keep them from getting in – you have succeeded from possible complications of shutting down a line or facility. The backup to the plan is inside tin-cats or devices which may catch the possible sneaky little rodent, if it gets past the other devices.
Hantavirus a Real Threat to SouthWest…
I was watching Ice Road Truckers the other night and caught the program where the guy got really sick and they determined that he had mice inside the cab of his truck = Hantavirus. The Southwest is experiencing an increase in this disease, 18 confirmed cases mostly from the west AZ, CO, NM, CA, ID, MT, WA – (New York and Iowa was in the mix).
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrone (HPS) is a viral disease characterized by fever, a severe pulmonary (lung) illness and often a fatal outcome. The case-fatality ratio with HPS is 43% (meaning 43% of people with HPS die).
Hantavirus A Threat… Rodent Disease on the Rise
Someone has lost it in Washington D.C. —– amazing new law.
OK so sometimes you see stuff and you think how the hell did that happen? This has got to be one of those events, somebody who thought this was a good idea and somehow people went along with this. Rodents rats, mice are vermin – plain and simple. Now I understand that rats deserve a place on this earth, its just not in our homes or businesses. If you don’t keep check on things they will take over or spread disease – just like the Plague in the 14th Century – 1/3 to 1/2 of Europe died.
Cuccinelli said D.C.’s new rat law–the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010 (Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.pdf) –is “crazier than fiction” because it requires that rats and other vermin not be killed but captured, preferably in families; no glue or snap traps can be utilized; the rodents must be relocated from where they are captured; and some of these animals may need to be transferred to a “wildlife rehabilitator” as part of their relocation process.
The law does not allow pest control professionals “to kill the dang rats,” Cuccinelli told CNSNews.com. “They have to capture them–then capture them in families. [Not sure] how you’re going to figure that out with rats. And then you have to relocate them. That brings us to Virginia. Now, if you don’t relocate them about 25 miles away, according to experts, rodents will find their way back. Well, an easy way to solve that problem is to cross a river, and what’s on the other side of the river? Virginia.”
Hantavirus and Plague Filthy Cities (Medieval London) and early New York…
My opinion – BAD MOVE, vermin are vermin – end of story. Who comes up with this stuff?
The spread of “Black Rats”
A great article from Discovery Magazine “Man is the environment of the rat“
This story talks about the complexities of movement of invasive species from around the world, also discusses the spread of other problems associated with the spread of those animals and their pests. We have an issues with Mollusks hitching rides on boats and engines. They than drop off or multiply in other fresh bodies of water. Most cases are accidental but sometimes we our are own worse enemies. Bringing to mind Hawaii, bringing in Mongoose to control rats. Rats come out at night not Mongooses. Bad decision and bad consequences. Now Hawaii has both and they can do some real damage to areas.
NPMA photo
