How to fight plagues
Mosquitoes:
Weather changes cause millions of mosquitoes to
grow. They carry many diseases. Some of these diseases
transmitted by mosquitoes are dengue, leishmaniasis,
malaria, and yellow fever.
It is necessary to use the right insecticide for the
activity you are going to perform. Therefore, we
recommend using:
-
For open spaces:
mosquito killing coils
-
For closed spaces with
people inside: mosquito killing mats
-
For specific use or
fumigation: aerosol or liquid insecticide
-
For activities that
involve a lot of movement, such as camping, fishing,
playing sports, child games, etc: mosquito repellent
Protect yourself against mosquitoes by using:
Flies:
Flies live in garbage and wherever they can find animal
feces. Dead animals start to attract flies a few hours after
dying. Most flies are diurnal. Fly larvae eat rotten meat
and feces. Adult flies eat all kinds of food with sugar,
even nectar and rotten fruit.
Since rotten meat and feces attract flies, these are
involved in the transmission of diseases, such as dysentery,
cholera, and typhoid fever..
Fight flies by using:
Flesh fly:
Their scientific name is Sarcophaga Carnaria, normally
called "flesh flies". These flies can be found in any part
of the world. The adult flies are bigger than house flies.
Their thorax and abdomen are covered by bristles. They have
big reddish eyes. The adults are light or dark grey and have
a sucking-biting buccal organs.
Signs and Symptoms: The presence of larvae in the skin is
the most typical sign of disease. There are also tunnels
built by larvae as they move from place to place.
Get rid of flesh flies by
using:
Wasps:
The best treatment is prevention, whenever possible. For
people allergic to bee, wasp or yellow insect bites, it
is important to carry an emergency kit and to be
familiar with their use should they happen to need it.
The sting must be removed if it is still on the skin, by
scrubbing it away with a blunt object. Do not use
tweezers since they could squeeze the poison out of the
sting and increase the amount of poison liberated. Use
ice (wrapped in a cloth or a suitable wrapping) on the
bite during 10 minutes. Then remove the ice for another
10 minutes, and then repeat this procedure.
Once bit, call a Poisoning Control Centre or a hospital
emergency room in order to get help in case the patient
has any allergic reactions.
Get rid of Wasps by using:
Moths:
Moths are like butterflies. Many species are very picky in
terms of what they eat, and they may even eat a single kind
of plant during their entire life. Adults generally suck
flower nectar. Some larvae eat fabric or stored grains.
The so-called clothing moth is found all around the world.
It eats animal sub products such as fur, woollen rugs,
tapestries, and may be harmful for stored woollen clothes
A proper diagnosis of the plague is the first step to
control it. Clothes damaged by clothing moths have ruts on
the surface, formed by the pasturing habits of larvae.
Occasionally and during severe infections, there will be
holes on the wool. When there is larvae on furs or hair
brushes, they cut individual hairs near the surface.
Eliminate moths by using:
Horsefly:
: It is the usual name for any of over 2,000
species of short-antenna flies. They are pretty
cosmopolitan.
To get away from horseflies while resting or camping,
laying on the ground is enough. It is more difficult for
these insects to identify and find their victim in such
circumstances.
Also wearing clothes with light colours helps avoid this
problem.
Eliminate horseflies
by using:
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Crawling Insects
Ants:
One of the most outstanding characteristics of ants is
their social behaviour. They live in colonies normally
formed by a queen, male ants and workers. Ants communicate.
They can communicate, among other things, directions (where
food is) and danger awareness.
Most ants have no sting or it is not functional. Their
most common defence is biting and throwing formic acid. Some
people may be hypersensitive to ants' bites.
Ants are very diverse, hence it is difficult to make
generalisations. Some species are considered plagues because
they live in and protect a territory considered ours or
because they want to eat products we need. Some species of
opportunist ants may invade kitchens, provision supplies and
areas with food for animals as they look for suitable food.
Get rid of ants by using:
Roaches:
Is your family upset by the presence of roaches in your
house? Your house is not the only one. Even though roaches
are thought to prefer dirty places, even the cleanest houses
have roaches. Were hey able to talk, roaches could tell us
most of the story of our planet as direct witnesses. The
evolving persistence along some hundred million years of
these insects is really amazing. While the planet was
subject to several transformations, roaches did not need to
change their aspect, which turned them into real living
fossils.
Nonetheless, roach despite is almost universal. The fact
that they carry in their body organisms that cause human
affecting diseases, such as cholera, diarrhoea, etc, has
contributed to this feeling. Roaches are the most common
house insects. Once they invade a house, they spread
rapidly, which makes them more difficult to control.
DO NOT FEED THEM! For a roach, any piece of matter is
food. They eat crumbs, pet food, dry leaves, and rubbish. If
they are very hungry, they will even eat soap and glue!
DO NOT LET THEM IN! Roaches spend most of their time
hiding. They like cracks and since they have very flat
bodies, they can go through any small whole.
Get rid of roaches by using:
Spiders:
The spiders are very interesting
insects. They produce silk which they use to knit their
spider webs, capture their victims, float in the air,
protect heir egg sack, and line their lairs.
They eat a lot of insects, which helps control the number
of insects. Some medical investigations have produce several
chemicals useful for controlling or treating diseases in
humans by using spider poison. A spider sting may cause
pain, but in most of the cases the poison is harmless,
except in the species called black widow and brown spider,
whose bite may cause harmful reactions in humans.
Get rid of spiders by
using:
Garden Plagues:
Garden insects and diseases normally
attack weak plants. We therefore suggest the following
preventive steps in order to keep your plants strong and
vigorous:
- Buy quality plants: well grown, with
good roots, strong stems and good proportions. Check
them for diseases, plagues, or wounds, and if you find
any, reject them.
- Weather: Choose species that get along
well with the weather. In case you want a species not
adapted to your weather, the risk for parasite attack
will increase, since the plant will be living in a place
not suitable for it.
- Place the plant in a suitable spot:
protected from strong wind, cold, excessive sun.
- Correct watering: Not too little nor
too much. Excessive watering causes the roots to get
rotten and excessively used to watering, so they suffer
when they have no water for a while. Plants should not
be thirsty either. Avoid wetting leaves and flowers when
watering, since it may foster the development of
diseases. Water the foot of the plant. Sensitive indoor
plants must be "watered from below", by placing them on
a container with water for a while so that they can
absorb enough water. Then remove the container.
Should infection (either
plague or disease) occur in spite of these pieces of advice,
then you should take healing actions, by using chemical
insecticides, ecological insecticides, traps, manual
capturing, healing pruning, etc.
Get rid of garden plagues by
using:
Termites:
These are ant-like insects. There are about 1,500 species.
Their social organization is highly developed. They build
colonies in big nests or termite lairs that can house up to
a million individuals. They eat the vegetal cellulose found
in the wood they digest thanks to some protozoa that live in
their bowels.
ALERT SIGNS:
- The most obvious sign is clouds of
flying termites that may occur both inside and outside
the house.
- You will find dead termites and lots of
transparent, onion skin-like wings.
- Cracks or holes on wooden walls and
floors.
- Piles of sawdust in corners.
- Air bubbles under the paint.
PREVENTION PROGRAM:
- As a minimum, a yearly professional
inspection. The risk of damage is so big home solutions
cannot be relied on.
- Use a protection insecticide by
painting, spraying or spreading it on wood, or inject it
inside walls through holes.
- Reduce humidity in the foundation of
your house.
- Clean ventilation pipes and ducts
frequently. Get rid of any leaves and residuals as soon
as possible. Any wood by-product such as compost may
become an invitation for termites to come and have a
feast.
Get rid of termites by
using:
Centipedes:
They live outdoors in humid places, as well as under
rotting leaves and in fertilizer around outdoor plants.
Centipedes are long oval brown animals, with two pairs of
legs in almost every segment. They eat rotting humid plants,
new roots and green leaves. They live in leaf piles and
garbage. They usually roll up while resting. In dry weather
conditions or during warm summers, they migrate from garbage
piles as leaves get dry and may enter surrounding buildings.
It is important to spray on garbage in order to prevent
insects from entering buildings. Also, remove remains and
dead leaves around foundations in order to have complete
control on insects.
Get rid of centipedes by
using:
Crickets:
They are omnivorous and eat organic material from garbage,
also from disintegrated plants, fungi and shoots. They live
under stones and logs in prairies, meadows, and next to
roads. They are mostly nightly insects. They show some
interesting behavior patterns: in order to get the attention
of a female cricket, the male cricket produces a sound by
rubbing his front wings one against the other. This creaking
can be heard by female crickets with the ears they have on
their front legs. The singing of male crickets can be very
loud.
Crickets disintegrate material from plants, and by doing
so they help renew soil minerals. They are an important
source of food for other animals. However, they can be
harmful for shoots and in big groups they can even become
destructive.
Get rid of crickets by
using:
Vinchuca:
The vinchuca or gaucho bedbug (triatoma infestans) is one
of the most health-wise important vector insects. This
insect lives strictly in houses and their surroundings. When
a vinchuca bites its victim, it leaves feces and urine
contaminated with a parasite called trypanosoma cruzi, which
transmits the Chagas disease. Once the parasite enters the
bloodstream of the victim, it spreads all over the organisms
and weakens the heart, the digestive system and the brain.
Currently, the Chagas disease affects around 18 million
Latin-Americans, especially in Bolivia, Argentina, Chile,
Peru, Ecuador and Brazil, and it causes around 20,000 deaths
per year.
The Chagas disease is considered a disease of the poor, of
the very poor, especially native people and farmers who
usually sleep with their animals. The insect goes around
biting both animals and people.
PREVENTION:
In order to prevent this disease, the first step is to
avoid raising animals inside the house, then repair the roof
of the house, and if the insect is still found inside the
building, fumigate it.
Get rid of vinchucas by
using:
Scorpions:
They are poisonous insects that inject their poison
through a sting. All scorpions are poisonous, some more than
others.
Their bite is very painful, and in most cases it requires
the use of painkillers. It is not an aggressive species, and
it attacks only when it is trampled or squashed with some
part of the body of the victim.
They live in humid places and in all kinds of buildings
and houses, both in cities and the countryside. They hide in
sewers, drains, telephone wire pipes, etc. They eat
exclusively other insects such as crickets and roaches.
What to do if bitten by a scorpion: Sooth the patient and
loose his clothes. Do not apply any product on the affected
zone, do not apply alcohol or ice. Apply warm cloth. Give
the patient plenty of water with sugar. Take the patient to
the doctor as soon as possible.
Suggestions to avoid having scorpions at home:
- Do not keep wood, bricks or debris in
the same place for long periods of time (change them to
another place from time to time).
- While cleaning storehouses or doing
yard work , wear leather or thick latex gloves and
shoes.
- In case of finding a scorpion do not
crush it with your feet or your hands, use a long-shaft
device.
- Cover drains, gratings, sinks etc. with
tops or a cloth, mainly at night and after finishing
housework.
- Pour grease-cleaning liquid in drains
after finishing housework.
- Remember their favorite food is
roaches; therefore, by decreasing the number of roaches
in your house, you will also affect the scorpion
population.
Get rid of scorpions by
using:
Fleas and pique:
The most common types of fleas are the ones that infect
cats, dogs and human beings. Basically, they prefer biting
cats and dogs, but in case they cannot find any and also in
serious infections, they bite people, too. The best
environmental conditions for their development are places
that gather dust, sand, and organic residuals.
For every flea we see on the animal, there might be 10 in
the environment, and those are the ones difficult to get rid
of. By treating the animal as prevention, we can prevent
fleas from infesting the house. A large number of fleas on a
puppy or a kitten may suck enough blood as to provoke anemia
and weakness in the animal with the parasites, which makes
it prone to getting any disease.
There is a small flea normally called pique (tunga
penetrans) that constitutes a special case. An adult female,
once fertilized, may get under the skin of its victim,
leaving out only the back extremities or its abdomen in
contact with the outer environment in order to lay its eggs.
Places where dogs or cats sleep must be carefully taken
into account, as well as places of difficult treatment
(under furniture and armchairs).
Get rid of fleas and piques
by using:
Ticks and lice:
Another group of dangerous trespassers is formed by ticks
and lice, which are parasites since they depend on the blood
of dogs, cats, birds, rodents, or human beings, to survive.
They can be found in any part of the body, although their
favorite areas are ears, parts of the head, and between
fingers or toes. They may cause serious diseases, such as
anaemia and bleeding if not timely treated.
PREVENTION:
- Check your pet's hair (especially if it
is long) from head to tail, focusing on the areas of
higher blood stream, such as ears. Check your dogs every
time they come back from a walk.
- Use antiparasite products. If you have
a cat, talk to your vet first, since cats are more
sensitive to this kind of products.
Get rid of ticks and lice by
using:
Acarus:
They are harmless insects for human beings, but their
feces have high allergenic power. The main accumulation of
allergic factors are found in mattresses, pillows, and rugs
and other home textiles. Acarus can be found in almost any
ecosystem, including deserts, tundras, mountains, deep soil
strata, caves, hot water springs, oceanic soil. It is to
say, acarus have colonized almost every habitat, and there
is a wide variety of species:
Free-life (no parasite) acarus: they live on the ground,
in the air part of plants, in stored products, in sea
coasts. There are also parasite species, such as vertebrate
ectoparasites that attack mainly bats, armadillos, birds,
reptiles, and rodents.
Get rid of acarus by using:
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Rats, mice:
Rodents such as rats and mice stand out among the
different species of vertebrates that have gotten used to a
human environment by invading houses and facilities,
contaminating or consuming food and becoming a risk for
health and productive systems. These animals carry diseases
and parasites. They also destroy and contaminate crops and
food, storage and packaging facilities; and put food
processes and products at risk.
Hanta virus is one of the specific risks spread by a wild
rodent called "long-tailed mouse". Different kinds of rats
and mice may get infected with hanta virus and transmit the
infection through their feces, urine, or saliva to human
beings. The biological waste of infected rats may get dry
and become dust. Carried by the wind it becomes suspended
contaminated material, which may be inhaled by people. The
hanta virus lung syndrome is a very serious and sometimes
fatal respiratory disease.
Domestic rodents do not carry hanta virus, only wild
species living mainly in rural areas, even though these
rodents may also get into populated places. Hanta virus does
not affect other animals, such as dogs, cats, and farm
animals.
PREVENTION:
Outside the carrier, the virus has a very short life,
hence it cannot survive in open, ventilated or sunlit areas.
For campers and visitors in rural areas there are some
suggestions:
- Before using a deserted hut or one that
has not been used for several months, open it and air it
for at least one hour.
- After that, check for rodents, and do
not stay in any hut where you find signs of rodent
invasion.
- If you sleep in the open, check the
spot you are going to use and see if there are any
rodent excrements or mouseholes.
- Do not bother rodents in their
mouseholes or caves.
- Try to avoid sleeping near piles of
wood or garbage areas that might be frequently visited
by rodents.
- Avoid sleeping on the ground without
protection; use an air-bed or a cot. If you are sleeping
inside a tent, close it up.
- Store food in rodent-proof containers.
Bury or burn garbage. Keep your camping place clean.
- If there is no running water, boil your
drinking water, or purify it by using chlorine.
Get rid of rats and mice by
suing:
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