Orkin Specialists Receive Training on Rabies

ATLANTA – Orkin recently hosted Dr. Charles E. Rupprecht, chief scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) rabies program. Dr. Rupprecht led an in-depth seminar on basic rabies information, including characteristics, symptoms and geographic distribution of the disease. The training was conducted using Orkin’s interactive satellite television communications network. Hundreds of Orkin’s residential and commercial pest control specialists across the country tuned in to the live broadcast.

Facilitated by Dr. Ron Harrison, technical director for Orkin, the broadcast is available to all Rollins brand pest control companies, including PCO Services, HomeTeam Pest Defense, Western Pest Services, The Industrial Fumigant Company, Waltham Services LLC and Crane Pest Control. This is the sixth year Orkin has partnered with the CDC to bring training sessions to its pest control specialists. The seminar was broadcast live at 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. (EST). Specialists received Continuing Education Units for watching the broadcast, and all of Orkin’s 400 field locations either participated in the live broadcast or will view the program through a video-on-demand feature within the next two weeks.

In addition to basic information on rabies, Dr. Rupprecht covered transmission facts and gave tips on how to protect both the homeowner and the pest control specialist.

“Since partnering with the CDC in 2004, Orkin has strengthened our training program by equipping our specialists with the knowledge to educate customers with the most up-to-date information on animal and pest-related disease transmission.” said John Wilson, president of Orkin USA. “This twice yearly broadcast is a wonderful way to pass along current information to our specialists and then to our customers.”