Fighting disease with effective pest control

Pest species are well known for carrying infection and disease, which is one of the primary reasons for the need of effective control. With the changes that occurred in infection control legislation in April 2010, we need to consider how pests affect hospitals and how we prevent them.

How infection is spread
Firstly, we need to be aware pests can transfer infection in two ways. Infection can be transferred by pest species from within the body. Rats for example transfer Leptospirosis (Weils disease) via their urine, but they may also transfer infection such as salmonella on their body as they come into contact with waste in sewer systems. Mice do not live in sewers, but are incontinent, urinating and defecating wherever they go. Rodent infestation is not acceptable in any medical setting, and the thought of a rat emerging from a sewer into a hospital should fill us all with dread.

Insects also have the potential to spread infection and disease on a potentially massive scale. The common housefly for example will feed on waste and detritus and then enter a medical or food preparation area, contaminating every surface they land on. Pharaoh’s ants are another insect directly associated with disease transferral in hospitals due to their habit of feeding on suppurating wounds and penetrating sterile packaging.

A roach problem
The most common insect pest associated with hospitals and nursing homes are cockroaches. Fortunately, cockroach activity has become less common in recent years due to the availability of better products and better training for pest controllers. However, hospitals often offer perfect conditions for cockroaches with warm, damp ducts running for hundreds of meters beneath the ground. Cockroaches’ habit of feeding on anything organic, including cat faeces, make them a potential host of disease.

The Oriental Cockroach can also be incredibly difficult to eradicate, as its egg case (ootheca) can remain dormant for several months, with young insects hatching out long after treatments have concluded.

Prevention is cure
So, what can we do to prevent the possibility of pests spreading infection? Good standards of hygiene or of vital importance when it comes to preventing pest activity. If you can remove what pests feed on, you remove one of the key reasons why they are there. Tie this in with good maintenance regimes for properties to prevent the access of pests, and you have removed a second necessity for pest species, harbourage (a place to live).

To show due diligence you should also employ the service of a professional pest control company that has suitably trained staff who understand the pest they are dealing with and the process for dealing with them.

The British Pest Control Association has approximately 400 servicing members who meet our membership criteria and are subject to regular assessment visits from the BPCA. If you would like more information on visit frequency, scope of contract or suitably qualified companies that are servicing members of the British Pest Control Association, please contact us.

For more information:
Tel: 01332 294288
Web: www.bpca.org.uk