Rodent Flea Control

NEW COMBINATION RODENT & FLEA CONTROL TECHNOLOGY

WELLINGTON, COLORADO. Epizootic plague in wild rodents, notably in the California Ground Squirrel, has been documented in the US as early as 1903. Plague now affects 12 western states, including California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Plague exposures are predominately peridomestic in nature, particularly in rodents provided with food and harborage. A Colorado-based, family-owned business (Scimetrics Ltd. Corp.) is about to release a new innovation in rodent control. Traditional rodent elimination products contain chemicals that are known as anticoagulants. After ingestion, these baits kill rats, mice, and other rodents over a period of several days. The California ground squirrel is not only destructive to rangelands and crops (about $20,000,000 of damage to crops each year in California), but also host potential disease-infected fleas, which become significant public health issues each year. With conventional rodent elimination (when rodents are killed by baits) the fleas that are living off them seek other warm-blooded hosts, such as pets and humans. As a result, these host-seeking fleas may then inadvertently transfer disease to these new accidental hosts, often accounting for human plague cases each year in the western US.

Traditional rodent control measures may create a greater public health problem. Killing field rodents can trigger an increase or release of fleas near burrow entrances, some of which may carry plague. Manufacturers, including the State of California, are producing rodent baits that may reduce damage, but force fleas to feed on alternative hosts (humans and pets).

Kaput-D Combo Bait Kills Rodents and Their Fleas The first dual action bait, KAPUT-D COMBO BAIT® as it is named, will not only eliminate the ground squirrel host, but will significantly reduce the number of fleas on the rodent and in its nests or burrows. COMBO BAIT® has been approved by the EPA and the State of California. “Once approved, I hope to use or recommend its use” says Dr. Richard Davis, Senior Public Health Biologist with the California Department of Public Health. Dr. Davis observed early field testing of the COMBO BAIT® on Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lompoc, California, and was very impressed with the results. Results of this study showed that flea numbers in burrow systems were reduced by greater than 99% after control of the ground squirrels. Plots where only rodenticides were used had dramatic increases in fleas near burrow entrances, over 3,000%. The development of COMBO BAIT® was supported in part by grants from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) via the SBIR program. In an uncertain global climate, bioterrorism involving the use of plague is an unfortunate possibility. COMBO BAIT® may aid in eliminating rodents and fleas in the event of such an attack. The bait is also currently being field tested in Uganda, a plague endemic area of eastern Africa.

The concept is different than any current rodent products on the market. This first in a series of four new products, COMBO BAIT® contains a systemic insecticide that once ingested by the ground squirrel, enters the rodent’s blood system. Fleas feeding on these rodents consume the low-dose chemical and die as the rodent host slowly expires. These products are the result of years of research and development and will be the first of their kind, providing a novel approach to rodent and flea control.