Public Health Pests, Roaches Take Center Stage at NCUE

Bart Drees, professor and extension entomologist, Texas A&M University, answers a question from the audience during the Fire Ant Symposium at the National Conference on Urban Entomology. (Photo: Dan Moreland)

RALEIGH-DURHAM, N.C. – More than 60 percent of the papers presented at the 2006 National Conference on Urban Entomology (NCUE) focused on termite control, but that doesn’t mean that significant resources aren’t being allocated to general pest control research at both the university and manufacturer level. Two areas of particular interest for pest management professionals are public health pests such as imported fire ants and the re-emergence of German cockroach resistance.

Last week, NCUE attendees heard a series of presentations from leading experts in the field on each of these important topics. “Bart” Drees, professor and extension entomologist, Texas A&M University, organized a well-attended symposium on “The Imported Fire Ants’ Threat and Management around Sensitive Accounts.” In introducing the topic, Drees said children and the elderly are particularly susceptible to fire ant stings, particularly if they are immobile or unable to escape an attack. “They can’t get away,” he said, so they’re vulnerable.

The vast majority of cases – and those that garner the greatest media publicity and most costly lawsuits – occur in nursing homes and extended care facilities. That’s why site analysis should be “a major part of any pest management program,” according to Drees.

In those regions of the country where fire ants are present they are “very pervasive in the environment,” so a comprehensive IPM program is essential when servicing these accounts. Otherwise, PCOs are opening themselves up to potentially costly litigation. “Site analysis should be a major part of any pest management program,” he said. “Mounds next to a building or nesting next to the slab should be a major source of concern. (Fire ant) IPM starts in the landscape.”

Two of Drees’ colleagues at Texas A&M University – Roger Gold and Mike Merchant – followed him on the program, providing additional insights about the serious public health threat posed by imported fire ants. Gold said it’s difficult to get a handle on just how pervasive the problem of fire ant attacks in nursing home facilities is given the fact so many of these cases are settled out of court, generating millions of dollars in damages. Merchant agreed, pointing out that “most of the cases that occur in nursing homes are probably underreported. If a case is settled out of court it may or may not appear in the newspapers.”

However, by studying those incidents that are reported, PCOs can improve their chances of controlling fire ant problems and avoid becoming embroiled in a costly lawsuit. Specifically, Gold said, the victim’s bed is next to the window; a rainfall event occurred the evening before the attack – which most often occurred on the weekend – and the area bordering the facility was not controlled by the PCO or the health care facility. “This is a common theme,” he said.

In closing, Gold said, PCOs can provide a valuable public health service by offering fire ant control services, but it requires a commitment to excellence and cooperation between the PCO and nursing home facility management. “Either do fire ants right or exclude them from your contracts,” he said.

Another well-attended symposium at the National Conference on Urban Entomology was organized by Changlu Wang of Purdue University and devoted to the topic of German cockroach IPM and the re-emergence of resistance.

In kicking off the program, Nonggang Bao of Bayer Environmental Science, described the difference between bait aversion and insecticide resistance, and provided an excellent literature review of the topic. While bait aversion is one of the factors contributing to the resurgence of German cockroaches in many parts of the United States, PCOs have ample tools to readily manage the problem, according to Bao. He recommended the following bait aversion management program:

• Vacuum and trapping to crash populations
• Refocus on floor level sanitation
• Consider dusts in deep harborage voids
• Install bait stations

In addition, he said, “Improved bait formulations and products will continue to provide the most economically sound and effective management tool for cockroach management.”

Other speakers participating in the symposium included Dini Miller of Virginia Tech, who presented an interesting paper on the dollar value residents of Portsmouth (Va.) public housing place on IPM for German cockroach control; a discussion of cockroach allergens and pheromones by Coby Schal of North Carolina State University; a review of the genetic basis for resistance to gel baits in the German cockroach by Changlu Wang of Purdue University; and a presentation by Dave Naffziger of Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories on the company’s dry flowable cockroach bait.

Following the presentations, attendees were treated to an evening reception at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.