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Cardboard Boxes
Cardboard boxes are great homes for cockroaches, bed bugs,
spiders, fleas, mites, ticks, and other pests… and not to mention
their waste products. They like to lay their eggs in the deep dark
corrugated layers. It is a great place for larvae to pupate.
Larvae: [lahr-vuh] plural noun. Immature wingless feeding stage of
an insect.
Pupate: [pyoo-peyt] verb. To undergo a dormant stage of growth
before emerging as an adult insect.
Break it down: Boxes travel through warehouses and in trucks
around the country, or even the globe. They pick up hitchhiking
vermin, soil, dust, and debris along the way. If the boxes become
damp, the moisture will aid the growth of mold and bacteria.
The Solution: When supplies are delivered, unpack and take all
boxes to the soiled utility room immediately. Cardboard shipping
boxes should NOT be found in sterile or clean supply areas, clinical
areas, or used for storing patient items for any length of time. If it
has a mailing label, think: Ship it out.
Healthcare facilities must provide a clean and sanitary environment,
which means no creepy crawlers.
¹Dolhun, E.P., & Antes, A.W. (2016, November 2). A case of cardboard boxes likely facilitating the biting of a patient by trypanosoma cruzi-infected triatomine bugs. Retrieved from http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.16-0455
Shipping boxes linked to
dangerous tropical disease
A young male in New Jersey developed
mysterious swollen rashes that did not
look like regular bug bites. He lived in a
clean home with no pets and had not
traveled out of the area.
Eventually, the CDC was called to help.
They identified bugs which tested
positive for Chagas Disease. This
disease is caused by a parasite found in
Triatoma bug feces. It is common in
tropical areas where homes have
thatched roofs such as Central and
South America. If untreated, it can be
chronic and life threatening.
So how could he catch it?
Answer: His bedroom doubled as his
home office, where he kept shipments
he received in cardboard boxes. Fact:
53 of a leading internet retailer’s 78
American warehouses are located in
states where the CDC has confirmed the
presence of Triatoma bugs¹!
Triatoma Bugs (penny for scale)
a.k.a. The “Kissing Bug.”
Why is it called that? Because it often
bites people on the face.
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