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What's New This Month
Several Penn State
University graduate students created a number of natural enemy videos
as part of a USDA NE SARE grant project. They are posted as "Pests and Natural Enemies" Youtube channel.
Please check out this great IPM educational resource!
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The Northeastern IPM Center has collected pages from the
private diaries of pests and turned them into an annual report. We
invite you to get to know some of the pests we face and learn about the
Northeastern IPM Center's role in supporting IPM solutions. Click here to start reading!
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Highlights
The Pesticide Research Center has a great new tool called The
Product Evaluator. This online, hazard-ranking tool provides
information on human health and environmental toxicity for over 20,000
pesticide products! To learn more, click here.
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EPA/NEHS Children's Centers 2014 Webinar Series, Protection Children's Health for a Lifetime. The
mission of the EPA/NIEHS Centers program is to reduce children's
health risks, protect children from environmental threats and promote
their health and well-being in the communities where they live, learn
and play. Join the webinar, Chemicals in Consumer Products Wednesday, February 12, 2014 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST
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| Upcoming Events |
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February 4, 2014
IPM Coordinator Training
Lubbock, TX
More Information
February 5th, 2014
Bed Bug Workshop
Rockford, IL
More Information
February 5th, 2014
Re-certification Workshop on Food Processing Sanitation and Pest Management
Rochester, NY
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| *View this newsletter as a PDF. |
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Greetings from School IPM 2015!
Every day, 49 million children attend school in the United States,
served by nearly seven million teachers and staff. But they're not
alone. Schools are also frequented by a number of pests including
cockroaches, mice, dust mites and more. Asthma is epidemic among
children, impacting nearly 6% of school children nationally with rates
as high as 25% in urban centers. House mice and cockroaches are potent
asthma triggers.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a
prevention-based, highly effective approach proven to reduce pest
complaints and pesticide use by up to 90% in schools and other public
buildings. IPM practices such as sanitation and exclusion also improve
food safety, fire safety and energy conservation. Our newsletter
highlights real-life examples of IPM in practice and can help you start
an IPM program in your school district. For more information, visit www.schoolipm2015.com. |
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Head Lice: A Lingering Pest
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Background
It would be great if the
onset of winter would bring an end to all pest problems, but this could
not be further from the truth. Winter is prime time for head lice
outbreaks. Contrary to popular belief, head lice are not a sign of poor
hygiene; in fact, lice are perfectly comfortable on a clean head. Six
to twelve million cases of head lice occur each year in the US.
Lice eggs, known as
"nits," are firmly adhered onto hair shafts, making it especially
difficult to remove them. Each louse can live up to one month and
produce one hundred offspring with regular meals of human blood. Head
lice can be transferred by head-to-head contact, sharing hats, combs and
pillows.
Screening for head lice
in schools is a very useful role for the school health professional.
Active infestations need to be addressed individually. Parents of all
children using the room with any child with confirmed headlice should be
notified and provided with basic information including description,
signs and symptoms; strategies to eliminate headlice. The information
should include where to go for additional help.
School districts vary in
adoption and enforcement of the controversial "No Nits" policy, which
states that any student with head lice, even a single nit, should be
forced to stay home from school. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses
advocate that "No Nit" policies should be discontinued. Since lice do
not spread disease or have any harmful effect other than an itchy scalp,
requiring students to miss school is unnecessary and detrimental to
their performance. The presence of nits alone is not a good predictor of
infestations; only about 18% of children with nits alone will become
infested with adult lice. Supporters of the zero tolerance policy,
including the National Pediculosis Association,
state that the only way to control and stop the cycle of lice
infestation is to keep kids out of school until all nits are removed.
How to Spot Head Lice
 Lice
have three pairs of legs and are grayish-white in color. Nits are oval
white cylinders that are about a sixteenth of an inch long. Lice prefer
to lay their eggs near the ears and the back of the head.
Prevention and Treatment
Children should be
encouraged not to share combs, hats or other personal belongings. Once
an infestation is detected, non-chemical treatment options include
washing clothing, pillow cases, sheets, blankets and other bedding
material in hot soapy water and drying on a high heat cycle to kill all
lice and their eggs. Use of lice sprays on furniture and toys is not
effective. Non-washable items can be sealed in plastic bags for seven to
ten days.
Manual removal of nits
close to the head is always recommended. Fine-toothed "nit combs" are
helpful. Combing and brushing wet hair damages lice and eggs
significantly. Additionally, use of a hair dryer further injures adults,
nymphs and nits. Botanical-based lice removal aids such as Lice-B-Gone®
and De-Licer® may ease removal.
To remove lice and nits,
- Comb and divide hair into sections, use a metal fine toothed
louse comb to remove nits and lice. After combing each section dip the
comb in a container of hot soapy water to remove lice and nits.
- Repeat if nits are still attached within 1 cm of the scalp.
- Repeat until all the sections of hair have been systematically combed.
- Clean nit removal comb, clips, brushes, headphones, hats, etc. with hot soapy water.
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| Cockroaches: A Cause for Concern |
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There are a number of
reasons cockroaches demand attention; they contaminate food with their
droppings and decaying bodies, and transfer bacteria to food and food
preparation surface. Cockroaches can multiply quickly, and cockroach
debris is an allergy and asthma trigger.
Stealth behavior
Cockroaches have a
reputation for evading human capture through their quick maneuvers and
ability to squeeze through small cracks. Did you know that cockroaches
have another survival trick? Like an acrobat, the cockroach can propel
itself beneath a ledge by running at full speed, diving off the edge and
then, at the last moment, grasping to the edge of a surface with
hook-like claws on its back legs. The cockroach uses its momentum to
swing like a pendulum and cling beneath the ledge, upside-down. This
pendulum swing has a similar effect to bungee jumping, subjecting the
cockroach to three to five times the force of gravity! Read more about
cockroach stealth behavior here.
Identifying the American cockroach
The
adult American cockroach is typically two and one-eighth to two and
three-eighths inches long and has a glossy, reddish-brown appearance.
Males have wings that extend past the abdomen, whereas females have
shorter wings. They prefer dark, damp, warm locations such as floor
drains, basements, sewers or storage areas. They are generally found in
ground- level food storage areas and places where food is prepared.
Identifying the German cockroach
The adult German cockroach is typically one-half to five-eighths of an
inch long and is light brown in color. They are best identified by their
small size and two dark parallel lines that run from the back of the
head to the wings. Although their wings are fully developed, unlike the
American cockroach, they cannot fly. The German cockroach is usually
found in kitchens near dishwashers, stoves or sinks, preferring to hide
in cracks and dark places where it is warm and humid.
IPM for cockroaches
The
most effective way to control cockroaches is to prevent them from
entering buildings and eliminate sources of food and water. Caulk and
seal all holes and gaps that could serve as entryways or harborage,
particularly in food service areas. Improving sanitation and making
repairs are small steps that go a long way. Place sticky traps in
infested areas instead of spraying in order to track movement, and
identify locations of harborages to seal up. Use a HEPA-filtered vacuum
to remove cockroaches and debris from harborages. Setting action
thresholds, like those below, is one way to help determine appropriate
actions.
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Average number of cockroaches per zone
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Action
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0
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None
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1-2
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Bait stations, check sanitation
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3-6
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Spot treat, add or replace baits, review sanitation
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7-15
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Thorough bait and crack and crevice application, revisit in two weeks
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15+
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Close facility and conduct thorough crack and crevice inspection and sanitation
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New Year, Deep Clean, Fresh Start!
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It is that time of year
when we spend more time indoors. This can lead to more clutter, which
can provide a perfect winter home for pests. Signs of infestation
include droppings, holes chewed in pest-edible materials, and paper
stashes in corners or behind and under appliance and fixtures. Here are
some great tips for custodians and teachers to keep pest presence to a
minimum:
- Identify, inspect and clean if necessary hard to reach places.
These are often dark, hidden areas that require looking under and
behind furniture, equipment and fixtures. Periodically inspect for food
debris or signs of pests, moving items as needed for a thorough
inspection.
- Untidy storage areas
lead to accumulations of debris and hiding places for pests. Keep
shelving and storage closets neat and orderly. Dispose of cardboard
shipping containers when new shipments arrive and store pest-attractive
materials in clear containers off the floor.
- Trash bins
should be lined with thick trash bags that fit properly to ensure that
trash goes directly in the bag, and that bags will not leak. Regularly
wipe down trash bins and wash out the bottom to remove any build up of
food for pests.
- Restrict food and drink
to designated areas and clean up spills immediately after they occur.
If food is kept in classrooms, dispose of perishable food at the end of
each day and store non-perishable food in sealable containers. Make sure
to report to cleaning staff any spills on carpet or in hard-to-reach
areas as soon as possible. Implementing a school-wide locker clean out
every month is a great way to ensure that food and drinks are not
forgotten.
- Monitoring, inspecting and reporting
are crucial to the success of an IPM program. Take notice of pest
vulnerable areas (PVAs) which typically have potential access to food,
water and harborage. PVAs are areas prone to infestation and require
more intensive monitoring and inspection than other areas of a facility.
Report pest-friendly conditions, or signs of pest infestation to the
person in charge of receiving and taking the proper steps to resolve.
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