Public health
Delivering a virus to control houseflies
Houseflies can transmit hundreds of animal and human pathogens like Salmonella, Escherichia coli and Shigella bacteria, which cause food borne illnesses. Insecticides are used to help control flies, but the pests can develop resistance to chemicals. Entomologists with the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Fla., examined salivary gland hypertrophy virus […]
40 years of rat control in Budapest: The importance of sewer treatments for effective rat control in urban areas
Rats proliferating in urban areas may spread infectious diseases, cause considerable economical damages or through the reaction they provoke, may annoy inhabitants; therefore, their control is indispensable. The question remains: where exactly should control be carried out to obtain appropriate results? ‘Deratization’* of Budapest city Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, is the only metropolis […]
News from the ‘ISNTD Bites’ meeting on vector control
The International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD) is a new, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to a multidisciplinary approach to a set of diseases that have traditionally ranked low down in terms of public health priorities but nevertheless impair the lives of an estimated 1 billion people. The World Health Organisation recognises 17 NTDs, many of […]
Rats invade buildings in response to floods and low temperatures
Widespread flooding across the UK during 2012 has caused thousands of rats to retreat from their waterlogged outdoor nests and make for the nearest dry shelter. Given rats usually live within close proximity to homes and farm buildings, indoor sightings of these pests have sharply increased in recent weeks. If a nest becomes flooded, the […]
Food manufacturers: challenges with managing pests in food handling facilities
How do you manage pests in your facility? Firstly any food safety programme should have a comprehensive pest management system. This is designed to control hazards from pests at every operational step of the food handling process, including biological hazards such Salmonella. In the USA, a large outbreak of Salmonellosis was caused by contaminated peanut […]
Space spray fundamentals
Control of flying insects in a stored product environment is always a challenge. Owners of large warehouses often prefer a non-residual space treatment instead of spraying wall surfaces with a residual insecticide. The aim of a space spray is to control flying insects with very small droplets penetrating between stacks of produce. Control of insects […]
Stable flies: Locating, controlling and assessing the damage they cause
Livestock producers may not be able to see the difference between stable flies and other flies at a distance, but they can definitely see the stable flies’ effect on their cattle as the animals stop grazing and bunch together to minimize the number of bites they’re getting. Stable flies are among the most important arthropod […]
