Summit Focuses on PMPs’ Critical Role as Protectors of Public Health

SAN ANTONIO – Events of the last 20-plus years have highlighted the important role PMPs play in protecting public health — and future trends suggest this role will be expanding. It’s for this reason NPMA brought together leading industry professionals in San Antonio, Texas, for its inaugural Pests & Public Health Summit. During the course of two days, speakers shared recent research, best practices and approaches for treating pests of critical public health importance. As speaker Santos Portugal, ABC Home & Commercial Services, Austin, Texas, noted, this event "planted a seed for us to continue to develop our ability to protect our customers."

This Summit was born from the former Global Bed Bug Summit, and bed bugs were an important topic at this year’s event. Dr. Zach DeVries, University of Kentucky, reviewed four ways bed bugs impact public health:  (1) bites – when bites are scratched and opened they have the potential to become infected; (2) DYI harm – DeVries cited examples of residents accidentally setting fires while attempting to eliminate bed bugs; (3) disease transmission – DeVries noted that bed bugs are NOT likely to transmit disease (no field trials have confirmed disease transmission); however, they do have that potential; and (4) psychological – DeVries said the psychological effects of having bed bugs (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.) "is more difficult to get rid of than the bugs themselves."

Dr. Coby Schal, North Carolina State University, said pest management professionals have opportunities to prove their value as public health protectors when it comes to cockroach control. Schal said cockroach control could be improved by flipping the IPM pyramid so that elimination is the first step, followed by remediation efforts. “The data shows that each cockroach produces a lot of allergens, so I don’t want to remediate the environment while there are cockroaches defecating,” he said.

NPMA’s Jim Fredericks spoke on why it was important for PMPs to be good stewards when it comes to mosquito control. Fredericks noted that mosquito control is a popular and growing segment, and it provides PMPs with opportunities to showcase themselves as public health protectors (e.g., mosquitoes can spread diseases like Zika and malaria). Fredericks noted that stories of “mosquito applications gone wrong” often end up in news headlines. He encouraged PMPs to talk not only with the homeowner, but  with neighbors to clearly illustrate what is involved in making a mosquito spray application. He also said PMPs need to be vigilant in targeting spray applications to minimize drift.]

Dr. Claudia Riegel, director of the New Orleans Mosquito Termite and Rodent Control Board (NOMTRCB), also spoke on mosquitoes. Her presentation, titled “Making Sense of Mosquito Monitoring – A PMPs guide to trapping mosquitoes,” gave attendees a glimpse at NOMTRCB’s ongoing mosquito surveillance program, which lets her team know which species are active and if they are vectors. In addition to encouraging PMPs to conduct their own mosquito surveys/surveillance programs, Riegel said PMPs can show their professionalism by providing homeowners with information and resources on where they can recycle their property’s old tires (a common mosquito breeding site).

UC Riverside’s Dr. Chow-Yang Lee shared how pest management professionals in Japan were the ultimate public health protectors in the wake of the March 2011 magnitude 9 earthquake that devastated the island nation. The earthquake caused $360 billion in damages, the largest natural disaster in world history. Lee was among public officials called upon to provide “boots on the ground” pest control expertise in Japan. One example of a pest-conducive condition Lee shared was that 50,000 tons of frozen fish were strewn throughout Japan following flooding that resulted from the earthquake-created tsunami. Lee showed slides of massive maggot piles and fly-filled glueboards that were found in the flooding’s aftermath. Lee said the pest management work done in Japan did not go unnoticed. PMPs were praised in articles about “unsung heroes” and at the recent Federation of Asian and Oceania Pest Managers Associations (FAOPMA) Pest Summit, one of the guest speakers was Yoshihide Suga, former prime minister of Japan.

Chris Wible, Rentokil Terminix, and Judy Black, Rollins Inc. (parent company of Orkin), shared how their respective companies are controlling rodents in California, where AB 1788 the “California Ecosystem Protection Act” went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011. That law prohibits the use of four second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARS) until California completes is SGAR reevalution and adopts any additional necessary restrictions (there are exceptions to protect public health). Wible said Rentokil Terminix has adapted by focusing on four key areas: (1) Customer communication, including setting realistic expectations; (2) renewed focus on quality inspections and the use of alternative tools; (3) renewed focus on the PMP-client partnership to implement structural and sanitation recommendations; and (4) making technician training a more ongoing learning process. Black said Orkin already had experience transitioning to alternative rodent control strategies because it services organic facilities. Black had her IT team pull SGAR usage data in California and it confirmed a significant drop in the use of SGARs, “which is what California wanted.” Black added that a lot of rodenticides do not get eaten and are disposed of in landfills, so in this respect using alternative rodent control strategies that rely less on rodenticides has a positive impact on the environment.

The Pests & Public Health Summit was sponsored by EvolveYT, and lanyard sponsor Aprehend, and  it was supported by NPMA Strategic Partners BASF, Corteva Agriscience, Envu, Syngenta and Workwave. Attendees had a chance to visit with these and other sponsors in the exhibit hall.