It’s now time to focus energies on another important observance, National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is proud to stand with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in bringing attention to asthma and asthma triggers. Why, you might ask, is the NPMA rallying to support this effort? Because, surprisingly to many, cockroaches and other pests are primary asthma triggers in home environments.

Asthma is a pervasive and serious chronic disease.  Consider these statistics from AAFA:

Every day in America:

44,000 people have an asthma attack.

36,000 kids miss school due to asthma.

27,000 adults miss work due to asthma.

4,700 people visit the emergency room due to asthma.

1,200 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma.

9 people die from asthma.

And while we may not be in a position to offer education about other asthma triggers such as mold, smoke, or pollution, we can certainly use our platform to educate about the importance of a pest-free home. The pests most often linked to asthma are rodents and cockroaches because of triggers from their urine, saliva, and fecal droppings.  While many people believe they are immune to contact with these pests, studies have found mouse allergens present in 82% of American homes and cockroaches in 78% to 98% of urban homes. Moreover, it’s been reported that when a single roach is spotted in a home environment, it’s likely there are at least 800 others present as well.  Yuck!

So we are pleased to focus much our site content this month to pests and asthma. You can learn more about asthma from Dr. Jorge Parada; you can learn how to prevent pests from taking up residence in your home; you can even watch the Public Service Announcement we produced with AAFA to focus attention on asthma awareness and you can find a pest management professional in your community who will help you learn more about keeping your home pest free.   

In case you have been under a rock, or perhaps more analogous, underground for the past 17 years, you might not have heard that the Brood II periodic cicadas are re-emerging this spring after living beneath the earth’s surface for the past decade and a half.  They last emerged in the Mid-Atlantic in 2006 and they are again expected to appear from the Carolinas to Connecticut once ground temperatures eight inches below the earth’s surface hit 64 degrees. 

With billions of cicadas arriving, the din they will create from the male’s mating calls will reach 90 decibels. For those who missed the sound lesson in science class, that compares to a jackhammer or approaching train!  If the sound’s not bad enough, their creepy touch is. These insects fly wildly in search of mate, not concerned about who or what they land on in the search for love.  Wedding planners and distraught brides will be forced to move long-anticipated outdoor nuptials indoors and those responsible for outdoor graduation ceremonies will have to resort to “plan B”.  Those who are phobic of insects in general, or cicadas in particular, are already planning on how to make their gas go further and their groceries to last longer to minimize the need to be outdoors during the height of the season.  Perhaps the only ones eagerly anticipating their return are dogs and wildlife who relish this delicacy for the added protein afforded.

The best advice I can offer in anticipation of the cicada-frenzy is to relax and enjoy.  There’s absolutely nothing you can do to prevent them and they will only be out for about six weeks in total.  Fortunately, these nuisance pests don’t cause any harm to people or property and quite frankly, they are an incredible phenomena.  I’d love to know your stories – past or present – about cicadas.  Did you have to bring a party or wedding indoors during the last cicada swarm?  Have you signed up for a grocery delivery service to minimize your outdoor exposure this year? 

Eagerly awaiting the first emergence…..

Most people tend to think of pest management in terms of residential problems (ants, rodents, cockroaches, termites, fleas, etc.); whereas, in reality, the importance of the industry to the nation as a whole is much broader including food and health protection.  Consider for example:

• Public health officials attribute the quality of life we have today to three things:  better pharmaceuticals and vaccines, better sanitation and better pest control.

• Without pest management practices, pests could destroy more than 50 percent of our food crops.

• According to a survey cited byLive Science, insects and snakes rank as two of the public’s most common fears.

• Rats bite more than 45,000 people each year and can transmit disease organisms such as rat bite fever, salmonella, trichinosis, murine typhus, the plague, and leptospirosis. In addition, rodents are blamed for an estimated  20 -25 percent of all fires of unknown causes due to their propensity for chewing electrical wiring and gas lines.

• According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, more than two million Americans are allergic to stinging insects, more than 500,000 enter hospital emergency rooms every year suffering from insect stings, and between 40-150 people a year die as a result of these stings.

•  Recent surveys have determined that cockroach allergens are the number three contributors to children’s asthma.  In addition, cockroaches contaminate food and spread filth by walking through contaminated areas.  They commonly carry staphylococci, streptococcus, coli-form, molds, salmonella, yeasts, and clostridia. Control and eradication of these pests is vital to health care facilities, homes, and sites where food is prepared or served.

• It would be difficult to find any segment of the food industry that could comply with federal sanitation and health regulations without an adequate pest management program.

Today there are almost 18,000 professional pest management companies working each and every day to ensure the public has adequate protection against the diseases and dangers caused by pests.  Often times, popular culture portrays our industry in the most extreme sense – highlighting extreme infestations.  While, fortunately, those situations aren’t the norm, they do show the harrowing work our professionals regularly perform in their work to protect us all. In observance of National Pest Management Month, I hope you will join me in saluting pest management professionals for the role they play in safeguarding us from the scary, disease-carrying, property-destroying, scream-causing, fear-inducing pests.

The first pieces we shot last month were our Public Service Announcements (PSAs) which were produced in cooperation with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. The 30- and 60-second spots educate viewers about how prevalent pest related allergy and asthma triggers are in U.S. homes.  For instance, they note that 78% to 98% of city homes contain cockroaches and 82% of U.S. homes contain mice allergens, factors linked to allergies and asthma. (Watch for these pieces to air nationwide this spring.)

My Taste of Hollywood Take-Aways…

• Casting calls are unique experiences. We watched no fewer than 100 actors audition for one part in the PSA. I loved reading the bios on the actors’ head shots where they literally list all talents imaginable ….yodeling, holding their breath, proficiency in jumping jacks, mastery of bubble-blowing, pig calling….I guess they are looking to share anything that can give them a competitive edge in being cast.  I must admit, my fascination with the actors’ life skills often distracted me from their actual auditions!

• It takes a long time to get quality production. It took nine hours to film a 30 second and 60 second spot for TV.  The lighting, acting, and angles all had to be just so. Then there were days and days of time spent in post-produ ction to complete the pieces. It was time incredibly well spent as the finished spots are educational and powerful.

• There are a lot of people involved in shooting a PSA. There was a team of at least 30 to film our short pieces. They were all always busy, often adju sting things – a little to the left, a little to the right, a little higher, and a little lower. Yes, there were dollies, grips, and gaf fers which I always see listed in movie credits. No, I still don’t kn ow what any of them do!

• Movie trailers are very cool. We had a big production trailer from which to watch the filming.  It had a complete kitchen, a make-up room, a living room, and an array of production equipment. I felt VERY Hollywood-esque in my trailer.

We also recently “wrapped” production on our new Health Checks videos and Pest Prescriptions by Parada, M.D. – both featuring Dr. Jorge Parada, medical advisor to NPMA. Dr. Parada, an infectious disease specialist, discusses health issues associated with a myriad of pests and dispelling common misperceptions about health care and pests. He talked almost solidly for nine hours and we will get approximately 45 minutes of videos.  Dr. Parada did a great job of taking complex medical jargon and sharing important information so that it’s easy to understand.

My Taste of Hollywood Take-aways…

• Before the director yells “action,” the camera people say “speed” which means they are ready. It is a hold-over phrase from yester-year when cameras needed time to rev-up and be at the right speed to record. Today, a simple push of a button does the trick, but in deference to tradition, the terminology has remained the same.

• The hot camera lights necessitate a lot of powdering for the actors. I would like to have a make-up person follow me around throughout the day for touch-ups as necessary!

• Production sets are incredibly realistic. Every last detail is considered about what might be seen on camera.  Medical books and office paraphernalia, diplomas, etc. are all authentic, even those items that are likely not to be seen as the realistic representation is important.

I hope you enjoyed this slight deviation from my normal blog post. I look forward to sharing our finished videos with you shortly!

Cockroaches, for instance, have a host of names, such as palmetto bugs or water bugs (though that’s actually a totally different bug). Whatever you call them, they are still disgusting. Pillbugs are better known as rollie-pollies because of the defensive rounding curl they perform when frightened.  And whoever calls those "jumping crickets” by their given name, camel crickets?

While some nicknames have been commonly accepted by the public, others are just affectionate (?) names families have created for pests that have troubled them.  One of my colleagues noted her family always refers to boxelder bugs as “Halloween bugs”, a logical connection since the orange and black bugs generally appear close to the arrival of pint size ghouls and goblins. Our Facebook page, heavily trafficked by homeowners, is filled with references to familial names our users have coined for pesky pests. Recently, one desperate soul was hopeful for guidance in dealing with “sugar ants”. Well, there’s actually no such insect but it’s easy to understand the reference! Ants love sweets and are often drawn to the kitchen table sugar bowl.

Has your family developed “pet names” for pests? I’d love to hear about them. While entomologists refer to insects by names connected with their order, family, genus, and species – the rest of us generally take practicality into hand and call them by something more familiar or meaningful, including pests!

Some of the most common pests we see invading our pantries and cabinets are those that are identified as pantry pests, most notably Indian meal moths and Merchant Grain Beetles and rodents, especially mice.  Most of us shudder at the thoughts of pests being in our kitchen, but their presence near our food is more than just a troubling thought.  Pantry pests can contaminate food products.  Mice can spread Salmonella and Hantavirus.  They can also carry fleas and lice into our homes.  Yuck!

Like with most things in life, prevention is key! A few easy proactive steps you can you can take to make your food storage areas less attractive to pests:

• Add a bay leaf to canisters and packages of dry goods like flour, rice and other grains- their pungent scent repels many pantry pests.
• Only purchase food in sealed packages that show no sign of damage.
• Store food in airtight containers. 

This step sounds good but undoubtedly gets put aside by many to do later.  Typical reasons for procrastination surface.  "I don’t know how."  "I will do it later." "I am waiting for a coupon for the right containers." 

Wipe away those excuses.  You can get most of the plastic boxes you need right at the grocery store – extra errand not required.  Or, if you have a little time to look around, you can also have good luck finding these products at yard sales and thrift stores. 

Buy plastic or metal containers in a variety of sizes.  Think about what you keep in your cabinets or pantry that will need to be moved into more permanent containers so you can buy appropriate sizes: Cereal, snacks, dog food, sugar, flour, etc.  For example, I store cereal in plastic containers that will allow the cereal to pour right from the top, making it nice and easy to use. 

Organizing your pantry or cabinets is a once and done project.  Sure, it will take maintenance as your food items change, but purchasing the items and getting your system in place will take the most of the time at the beginning.  Once you start the process, you will find that it’s amazingly easy to uphold.

Not only will you want to include a tour of your impressive pantry to visiting friends but you will take great satisfaction in knowing about the layer of pest protection you are providing for your home!

Check your Christmas Greens for Insects. I learned this one the hard way. We were so excited to bring our tree indoors one year that we neglected to inspect it for evidence of insects or arachnids. Well, it didn't take long until we had spiders and cobwebs everywhere! The tree had nests deep in the interior of the branches and the warmth of our home obviously expedited the emergence of the nymphs.  Lesson learned and one worth sharing. 

Inspect Your Holiday Décor and Store Properly.  Here's another painful lesson I picked up prior to learning how to safeguard against pests. We must not have put a lid tightly on a box of holiday decorations before it was stored in the garage because when we unpacked it the next year, not only were the decorations in there but so was a dead mouse - and what appeared to be hundreds of rodent droppings. Imagine my surprise. Needless to say, the entire box and its contents were immediately hurled into the trash. Fortunately, there were no family heirlooms inside, though in my horror, I am quite sure I would have dispensed with those as well. Now, EVERYTHING we store in the garage, basement and attic goes in sturdy, hard plastic containers with secure lids that can't be gnawed through by mice.

Examine and Protect Your Baking Supplies. Fortunately, baking is one holiday tradition that hasn’t been marred by bugs for me personally, but I know many who have had afternoon baking sessions put on hold due to the discovery of pantry pests. No one wants to cook with bugs in the flour or ants in the sugar. Be sure to store ingredients in air-tight containers and consider adding a bay leaf to canisters and packages of dry goods as the smell will often help to keep bugs at bay. (Pun intended.) Also, check all your baking supplies before you purchase them to make sure they show no signs of damage.

In managing our homes, there are so many little things we "should do." Some of the recommendations we hear, we immediately heed while others we put off or take with a grain of salt. When it comes to pests and the diseases they can transmit - and the utter agony they cause most of us - I urge you to follow these precautionary steps. I have made mistakes but I have learned from them and now relish my platform to help others from following in my erroneous footsteps!

My secret solution? A dehumidifier. Ever since we installed a dehumidifier that runs 24/7, crickets and other small insects have disappeared out of our basement – and out of our lives. Thankfully, even the frightening jumping crickets (Camelbacks) have vanished from the laundry room, forcing me to identify another acceptable reason to procrastinate on the wash.

As I have mentioned before, pests need three things for their survival: water, shelter and food. The elimination of water and moisture is paramount in making your home inhospitable to creepy crawlies. In fact, by simply eliminating – or even reducing – wetness in your basement or crawlspace – you can greatly diminish the likelihood of infestations of a myriad of pests including sowbugs, pillbugs, cockroaches, silverfish, centipedes, millipedes, and crickets.

In addition to installing a dehumidifier if there’s evidence of any moisture, make a point when pest proofing your basement to check for and fix any leaky water pipes under utility or bathroom sinks; ensure sump pumps and heat pumps aren’t leaking, and be sure the washing machine lines are intact. Of course, other parts of the house should be water-free as well but basements and crawlspaces are particularly vulnerable at this time of year as temperatures drop. 

Many of my fellow East Coasters who have recently experienced flooding from Hurricane Sandy need to ensure their homes are properly dried. Otherwise, not only will the pests mentioned above be problematic, but damp wood is especially attractive to termites. With the extensive damage they can cause, it’s essential to take preventative steps now to protect against them.

Of course, moisture elimination is only part of the pest-proofing equation. It’s also important to remove offerings of shelter that may be lurking in and around your basement.  Most spiders and insects come into the lower levels of homes through cracks and crevices.  Walk around the exterior of your home and use caulk to seal any openings you see. Pay particular attention to holes from utility lines and plumbing that come into your home. To check your work, stand in your basement with the lights off. If you see any streams of light coming in, grab the caulking gun and seal things a little tighter. If you see a lot of cobwebs in a certain area, there’s a good chance there’s a pest entry point nearby. Don’t forget to check your dryer vents. If they remain open, you have practically rolled out the red carpet for pests.

The last component of pest proofing is the elimination of food sources. When it comes to food for spiders and other insects that often infest basements, natural sources are outdoors. Be sure to keep foliage trimmed back from your home and keep mulch 18 inches from the foundation of your house. As the leaves come down, be sure to remove them from gathering around your house as decaying leaf piles are very attractive to pests. 

And I suppose that gets us back to why leaf blowers are a common sound in the fall.

While each of these stories is heart-breaking, they also offer good reminders that many pests are vectors of disease.  In addition to transmitting the bubonic plague, Hantavirus, and rabies, pests are also culprits in causing West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Salmonella, and countless other illnesses. While animals we see in nature are sometimes viewed as “cute” and rarities to see, it is important to keep your distance from them, always.  Children need to be reminded to stay clear of non-domesticated animals and admire them from afar.  It is important for pets to be current on all vaccines.

As temperatures begin to drop, many pests, including nuisance wildlife, often get a little closer to our families than they do at other times of the year. They attempt to come into our yards and houses in search of food, water, and shelter.   These recent stories offer needed reminders to take steps to keep homes and their surroundings as unwelcoming as possible for pests. Often a series of unusual, high profile events - such as these unique pest incidents - can cause undue panic among people.  Panic is not necessary or warranted but vigilance in protection against pests is always warranted.

In recounting my disappointment to a friend, she asked the question that I so often hear, “where do those things come from anyway?” Like my kids when I am trying to stealthily enjoy a candy bar, or my dog when there’s cereal milk to be had, fruit flies seem to emerge from nowhere! Contrary to popular belief, they do not come from the interior of the decaying fruit and are not spontaneously “born” from the rottenness of fruit.  Rather, they detect the yeast produced by fermenting fruit from great distances. Once they have identified an intended target, they have little trouble getting to it as their tiny size allows them to enter a home through miniscule cracks and crevices.  Even most window screens won’t deter them.

Here are a few things you should know to keep fruit flies at bay so you won’t find yourself in the same predicament I have:

1)    If you keep fresh fruit on the counter, check it often for signs of over-ripening or decay.  Over-ripe fruit should be disposed of in a sealed trash can, outdoors.  A female fruit fly lays an average of 500 eggs on the surface of fermenting fruit. You don’t want those eggs hatching in your kitchen trash can!

2)    Run your garbage disposal regularly.  Fruit flies LOVE the decaying food matter that accumulates down the drain.

3)    Wash or replace mops and sponges regularly. They also LOVE the old food particles these cleaning items gather.

4)    Don’t keep dirty dishes around. Dirtied dishes gathered in your sink, particularly those with fruit remnants, and soiled dishes that sit for too long in an un-run dishwasher can also invite these flies.  

Fruit flies, like many pests, can be prevented by following good sanitation practices.  I know my children think I am just nagging when I remind them to put their dishes in the dishwasher but there really is a more important reason: pest prevention!   I don’t want any other deterrents to interfere with my next BLT.  Hear that girls?