April has been designated as National Pest Management Month. This is very appropriate since April showers not only bring May flowers, they also bring an awful lot of pests!

 

Protecting Food, Health, Property, Environment

According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), the month is dedicated to recognizing the pest management industry's efforts and effectiveness in protecting society's food, health, property and environment.

With almost 18,000 companies and 125,000 service technicians, NPMA notes the urban environmental pest management industry as being important because …

• Pests destroy homes and buildings and their contents; termites alone cause over $5 billion in damage annually.
• Pests can transmit disease-causing organisms including West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, malaria, plague, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, hantavavirus, and encephalitis.
• Insect stings force half-a-million people to the emergency room every year.
• Rodents consume or contaminate about 20% of the world’s food supply. They carry fleas and ticks that potentially carry diseases. Rodents have also been implicated in fires across the country by chewing wires and spilling flammables.
• Bed bugs have made a resurgence in the United States. While no one is sure of the exact reason, experts suggest it may be due to more targeted treatment practices and increased international travel.

 

Pests Cause Damage and Disease

Many people want pests eliminated from their homes simply because they don't want to live with ants, rodents, cockroaches, fleas, etc.

But the importance of the industry is actually much greater than that:  food and health protection. According to NPMA:

• Public health officials attribute the quality of life we have today to three things: better pharmaceuticals and vaccines, better sanitation and better pest control.
• Rats bite more than 45,000 people each year. Rats can cause fires by chewing wires and transmit disease organisms such as rat bite fever, salmonella, trichinosis, murine typhus, the plague, and leptospirosis.
• According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology:
  • more than two million Americans are allergic to stinging insects;
  • more than 500,000 enter hospital emergency rooms every year suffering from insect stings;
  • and 40 to 150 people die each year as a result of these stings.
• Without pest management practices, pests could destroy more than 50% of our food crops.
• In a recent consumer survey, 93% of people expressed concern over finding insects in their homes.
• According to a survey cited by the Army Community Service, insects and bugs rank as the public’s third most common fear, behind public speaking and heights.
• Seven to eight percent of the general population is allergic to cockroaches. Studies of inner city children in Atlanta with chronic wheezing and runny noses revealed that 44% of them were allergic to cockroaches. Recent surveys have determined that cockroach allergens are the number three contributor to children’s asthma. Additionally, 90% of people with allergic asthma are sensitive to dust mites.
• Cockroach suppression and eradication is vital to health care facilities, homes, and sites where food is prepared or served. Cockroaches contaminate food and spread filth by walking through contaminated areas. They commonly carry staphylococci, streptococcus, coliform, molds, salmonella, yeasts, and clostridia.
• In a consumer survey, renters and homeowners were asked about the problems they’ve had with their homes or apartments. The number one problem they cited was insects. In fact, nearly half (45%) of the complaints dealt with insects or rodents in the home.