City of Virginia Beach / Public Works

“Public Health Pest Control”

Dreda A. Symonds, Mosquito Control Biologist

Public Health Pests

Life CyclesPublic Health Concerns

SurveillanceControl

Arachnids:TicksSpiders

Insects:LiceCockroachesFlies & Mosquitoes

Invertebrates -

Rodents:MiceRats

Vertebrates

Arthropods (Exoskeleton)

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Using several different surveillance, prevention and control techniques to

control a pest.

Steps in Safe & Effective Pest Management1. Proper identification & understanding of pest

Biology & Chemistry

Life Cycle

Behavior

2. Monitoring pest populations & disease potential.

3. Preventing pest infestations (Source Reduction)

4. Using Control Measures

FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS!!!

SAFETYREAD THE LABEL!!!!!!!!

Mosquitoes

Over 3,000 different species worldwide

Mosquito Life Cycle

1. Egg2. Larva3. Pupa

4. Adult

proboscislegs

wing

abdomen

eye

2. Nuisance control

1. Mosquito-Borne disease control

Mosquito-borne Diseases

A. Arboviral Encephalitis1. Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)2. West Nile Virus (WNV)3. Lacrosse Encephalitis (LACE)

B. Malaria (protozoan)

C. Dog Heartworms (nematode)

1. Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE)

Very high fever & quick onset

Most often in coastal regions of VA Not common in humans, but serious

2. West Nile Virus (WNV)

Stumbling

Impaired coordination

Weakness of limbs

NO FEVER

Fever, headache and body aches Mild rash or swollen lymph glands

Mild

Severe

High fever, severe headache, eye pain gastrointestinal problems, muscle weakness, back pain, stiff neck, confusion, loss of consciousness long-term neurological problems

3. Lacrosse Encephalitis (LACE)Most often in children in mountainous regions of VA

Flu-like illness - some long-term learning & behavioral prolemsTransmitted by container breeding mosquitoes

MalariaPlasmodium falciparum Plasmodium vivax

300 - 500 million cases each year

Over 1 million deaths each year

In Africa, 1 child dies from malaria every 30 sec

Dog Heartworms

Mosquito Population Surveillance and Arboviral Disease Testing

A. Mosquito Trapping

B. Arboviral Disease Testing

1. Mosquito pools

2. Sentinel Chicken Sera

1. Larval Dips

2. CO2 baited CDC traps

3. Gravid Traps

4. Bee Gee Traps

1. Larval Dipping

2. CO2 baited CDC Trap

A. Mosquito Trapping

3. Gravid Traps

4. BG Traps

1. Speciation and Pooling

B. Arboviral Disease Testing

2. Sentinel Chicken Flock Testing

Serostudies - Testing blood samples

IPM Mosquito Control Methods

III. Larviciding

I. Source Reduction- Drainage Maintenance - Container Control

II. Public Education

IV. Adulticiding

I. Source Reduction

A. Drainage Maintenance

B. Open Marsh Water Management

C. Container Control

II. Public Education

Asian Tiger Mosquito

Methods:

A. Backyard inspections

B. Media programs

C. Classroom projects & Special events

A. Backyard inspectionsService requests

Referrals from other sources

Asia Tiger Container Breeding Sites

B. Media programs

C. Classroom projects & Special events

IV. Larviciding

Fast-Acting Materials Sustained-Release

V. Adulticiding

A. Ground Ultra Low Volume (ULV)

B. Handspray yards

C. Aerial adulticide

Rodents

Roof Rat Rattus rattus

Norway Rat Rattus norvegicus

House mouse (Mus musculus)

Life Cycle & Behavior

Gestations Period = 19 - 22 days

Maturity in about 3 months

Like the familiar

Harborage

Feeding habits (steady vs. nibbling)

Gnawing

Public Health Concerns

Property Damage & Electrical Hazards

Salmonellosis (acute food poisoning), Rickettsia Pox, Hantavirus (via droppings), tapeworm, infectious jaundice, and tularemia.

Contaminate Food & Spread Disease

Hantivirus & Arenavirus - Not common - usually in people who spend lots of time in wild habitats or seasonal homes with severe

infestations.

Deermouse

Southeast - deermouse, cotton rat, rice rat

Northeast - white-footed mouse

Bubonic Plague

Rat Flea

Introduced into U.S. at San Francisco in 1900.

Last U.S. plague epidemic was 1924-45 in Los Angeles

Celebrating elimination of plague - 1908

Signs of rodent infestation

1. Exclusion

STUF-FIT COPPER MESH WOOL

Rodent Control

Commercial Food Storage

2. Eliminate Food Sources & Harborage

Home Food Storage

Waste Disposal

TIMING IS EVERYTHING !!!!!

1. Bait or trap

2. Clean up

Glue Boards

Live Traps (mice)

“Zappers”

3. Exterminate Rodents

Less desirable methods

Indoor - Snap Traps

More desirable methods

Mode of action:

Most are anticoagulants.

Rodents bleed internally

Most rodenticides “mimic” vitamin K

Outdoors -Rodenticides

Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting

Bromadiolone, brodifacoum, bromethalin, cholecalciferol and difethialone are the rodenticides most commonly available. Difethialone baits are reported to be more effective against mice

BEST FOR OUTDOOR USE.

Primary poisoning of non-targets

ALWAYS use bait stations

POTENTIAL HAZARDS

Bait Placement

Secondary Poisoning & Secondary Ingestion

Possible, but not likely

Difficult for a predator to ingest enough for harm

Ticks

Ixodes scapularis - Deer Tick

Dermacentor variabilis - American Dog Tick

Amblyomma americanum - Lonestar Tick

Tick Life Cycle

“Questing”

4 - 6 hours

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Dermacentor variabilis

American Dog Tick

Other symptoms: Moderate to high fever FatigueDeep muscle painChills

Rash starting on wrists, forearms, ankles & bottom of feet.

Ixodes scapularis Deer TickLyme Disease

“Bulls-eye” rash beginning at site of tick attachment.

Other symptoms: Moderate to high fever

Fatigue

Headache, stiff neck

Sore throat, swollen glands

Tick Surveillance1. Tick Drag

3. Deer tagging station

2. Dry Ice & Sticky Tape or white cloth

Tick Check

Tick Removal

1. ? Reduce food sources?

Tick Control

2. Physical control of tick habitat

3. Acaricides - Pesticides used to control ticks & mites.

Cockroaches

Robert G. Bellinger, Clemson University

American Cockroach Periplaneta americana

Robert G. Bellinger, Clemson University

German Cockroach Blatella germanica

Cockroach Life Cycle

Salmonellosis (food poisoning)Gastroenteritis Staphylococcus spp. infections Generalized diarrheaTyphoid fever

Public Health Concerns

Allergies to body parts & droppings

Surveillance

Photo credit: Jo ana Kubiak

Control 1. Sanitation

2. Exclusion

3. Traps

Phermone traps

4. Baits

5. Insecticides Boric acid

Chlorpyrifos

Cypermethrin

Diazinon

Hydroprene

Propoxur

Lice

Head Body

Crab

Louse Life Cycle

Public Health Concerns - Pediculosis

Epidemic Louse-borne Typhus

Earlier Phase:

Malaise

Abrupt onset of fever / chills

Unproductive cough

Dull mental status

Sometimes diarrhea

Later: Rash

Later Phase:

Tachycardia & hypotension

Coma

Nervous system damage

Urinary & bowel incontinence

Complications:

Bronchopneumonia

GangreneRelapsing Fever

Severe head louse infestation

Body Louse Eggs

Pediculicide

Pyrethrum + Piperonyl ButoxidePermethrin

Flies

Order Diptera - One of the largest insect orders

Fly Life Cycle - Complete Metamorphosis

Fly-borne DiseasesHousefly

Manifestations: Cramping abdominal painDiarrhea Blood and mucus in the feces

Bacillary Dysentery

Typhoid Fever

Willianna Watsondaughter ofJames Alfred & Sue WatsonBorn Nov. 9, 1873Died June 21, 1893Age 19 years, 6 mos. & 23 daysA precious one from us has goneA voice we love is stilled.A place is vacant in our homeWhich never can be filled."

Sustained fever as high as 103° to 104° F Weakness Stomach pains & loss of appetiteHeadacheRash of flat, rose-colored spots

"Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it"

Typhoid Fever manifestations:

Tsetse flies - African sleeping sickness

FeverSkin lesions,Rash or edemaSwollen glandsEventually meningoencephalitis

Biological vector

The green and fertile banks of Lake Awasa in Ethiopia's southern valleysis unpopulated because of the tsetse fly and mosquitoes.

“Rural disease”

Sandflies - Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Small cracks and holes in the ground, the ventilation shafts of termite hills, animal burrows, cracks in mud walls and masonry, and among tree roots. Large populations of sandflies can build up in family compounds where cattle are kept at night. The cattle provide an abundant source of blood, while the stables and houses provide suitable resting places

Fly Surveillance

1. Eliminate food sources

Fly Control

2. Fly Traps

3. Sterile Males (tsetse flies)

4. Repellants - DEET or Pyrethroids

Insecticide impregnated bed nets

5. Insecticides Usually target adult stage

Spraying of residual insecticides on surfaces in & outside the home

6. Exclusion - screens

Spiders

Black Widow

Brown Recluse Never recorded in Virginia

chelicera

Spider Body Parts

Egg Sac

SpiderlingsAdult

Spider Life Cycle

Female Black Widow with Spiderlings

Web-builders

Black Widow

Female Male

Funnel Web Spiders

American House Spider

Wolf SpidersNot web-builders

“Jumping Spider”

Inspection for Spiders

ALL Spiders are Venomous.

Pain bite site abdomen and back.

Severe cramping or rigidity in the abdominal muscles

Nausea, profuse perspiration, tremors, labored breathing, restlessness, increased blood pressure, and fever.

Black Widow Spider Bite Manifestations

Brown Recluse Spider Bite Manifestations

Control:1. Eliminate food sources

2. Eliminate cobwebs

by: Corey McCarty

3. Traps

4. Pesiticides - Synthetic Pyrethroids

(Allethrin) (Cypermethrin & imiprothrin) (Permethrin)