Zoonotic Diseases Like Hantavirus Can Spread Faster Than You Think

This time on PEST PROSpectives, the real-world risks behind zoonotic diseases are discussed - and why the cleanup is often more dangerous than the wildlife itself. 

PEST PROS Associate Certified Entomologist Tony Sorrentino is joined by zoonotic disease expert Jay Vincent, Owner of Smart Solutions Pest Control in Atlanta.

Episode Resources
Pest Pros of Michigan
Smart Solutions Pest Control

PEST PROSpectives is a Livemic Communications production.

Transcript

Welcome And Topic Setup

Richard Piet 0:08

I'm Richard Piet. Welcome back to Pest Perspectives. This is the official podcast from the Pest Pros of Michigan. Today, we're talking about zoonotic diseases, one of which is Hontavirus, which has been very much in the news in recent years. Tony Sorrentino is an ace with Pest Pros and joins us today for this discussion. And we have a special guest, Tony. Who is it?

Tony Sorrentino 0:36

He's one of the smartest, most comprehensive pest control wildlife operators that I've ever met in my life. His name is Jay Vincent, and he owns uh Smart Solutions Wildlife in Atlanta. And uh Jay?

Meet Jay Vincent And His Work

Tony Sorrentino 0:50

Hey Tony. Hey Richard, thanks for having me.

Richard Piet 0:52

Glad to be here. Well, thank you. Uh we're going to talk about a couple of things in the next couple of episodes with Jay. Uh naturally the zoonoc the zoonotic diseases discussion, but also another piece of that, which is the notion of exclusion, which is one of your specialties. Really both of these are, right? Talk a little bit about your experience, Jay, for a moment.

Jay Vincent 1:14

I went to school to be a wildlife biologist and ended up getting an associate's degree in wildlife management and biology, and that was back in the 90s. And then I kind of stepped into the pest control industry in 1999 by answering an ad in the newspaper when we still used to, you know, do that kind of thing, completely different now. And I didn't really know what I was getting into, but that was 27 years ago, and I'm still doing it. And I love it. And so I've had our business now for 19 years. We're heavily involved on both national and state levels with studying both pest control, entomology, wildlife removal. And so we're one of the few companies, at least in the Atlanta area, that is certified for zoonotic disease control. It's a course that's offered by NWCOA. You know, biodecontamination, um, containment, those sort of things are not really anything you can go take a class on. It's something that we've kind of pulled from the mold industry and from uh the pest control industry, and we've basically created our own process.

Fear, Empathy, And Customer Reassurance

Richard Piet 2:27

When we talk about zoonotic diseases, I'm not I'm not looking for a you know a comprehensive list here, but when you hear that zoonotic diseases and you get a call for that, what's the first thoughts about how you're gonna handle that that come to mind?

Jay Vincent 2:43

First thought that comes to mind is empathy with the customer, just because a lot of the times the psychology and the reactive feelings around diseases freaks people out. And so a lot of the times we're doing a lot of emotional damage control, and you really gotta love on people and hold their hand through this through the process. And that's really the the people part of it is the most challenging part, not necessarily dealing with the animals and cleaning up the contamination, but just making sure we're comforting everybody, and then of course, we're not um adding to the to the fear.

Richard Piet 3:21

Tony, you probably encounter that too,

Common Wildlife Diseases And Identification

Richard Piet 3:23

right? You people who call you and say we've got a disease problem here are scared.

Tony Sorrentino 3:30

The thing is uh people don't usually call in about disease. It's not uh um it's exposure, it's bat-human interactions where we have a high risk of of rabies. Or if we have a maternal colony of bats living in the attic, we have a higher instance of uh accumulated guano uh in the attic space, and that can lead to histoplasmosis, which is a zoonotic disease. Raccoons uh and uh balisicaris prosionis, it's a raccoon roundworm. There's a real threat from wildlife and humans cohabitating. That's why uh comprehensive evaluation is so important when you know I'm hearing noises in the attic. Getting to the bottom of that is is positive identification, um, and then figuring out what's been happening for how long and what we can do to help remediate control the situation.

Richard Piet 4:30

So, Jay, the the common thread here in zoonotic diseases is uh, as Tony said, cohabitating with these beings and the droppings that they leave behind.

Droppings, Urine, And Why Sweeping Spreads

Jay Vincent 4:45

That's the the source. Is that true? It is true. I mean, it's not only uh fecal matter or droppings, but it's urine, uh mucus. Okay. And, you know, for instance, we had a a client call in yesterday where the raccoons were going to the bathroom on the back porch, right? And candidly sweeping up the droppings, and one of the worst things you can do when you when things become airborne and you create inhalation issues or ingestion issues is to sweep. You have to be pretty intense with the way you want to control these particulates. And so depending on the animal, what they carry, that and and the type of particulate you're controlling, whether it's fungal, viral, or bacterial, whatever uh mode of entry that it could come into contact with a person, there's just certain protocol you had to follow to make sure you do not create a contaminated space in the living space.

Richard Piet 5:39

You know, the the sweeping thing creates uh a, I was gonna say a terrific image, but you know what I mean, a a good example in one's mind about how this spreads. Anyone knows when you just sweep up dirt and dust, it goes into the air. And I would venture to say most of us don't hold our breath when we're doing that. Probably isn't effective anyway, but you get the point. It it spreads in the air. This is the same thing, but at a at a higher level in terms of threat.

Jay Vincent 6:16

Absolutely. And most of the times when people are doing things like that, they have good intentions, but not properly cleaning and inhaling and ingesting particulates is the way that a lot of this stuff happens.

Richard Piet 6:27

Yeah. And you probably get the call after somebody's sick. I would say maybe some of the time at least. Is that true?

Jay Vincent 6:35

We have had clients that have had histoplasmosis and feel that the exposure due to the uh bat guano was the was the issue. The the challenge a lot of the times with with some of these diseases is they will prey on a a poor immune system. So you could actually have the virus and it won't show up till years later until your immune system, you know, um lets you know. It can hide. It can hide.

Richard Piet 7:00

Yeah. Oh my goodness.

Hantavirus Risks In Dry Environments

Richard Piet 7:02

Okay. Let's talk about hontavirus for a second, just because it's been in the in the news so much. Uh Gene Hackman's wife, right? And then uh a cruise ship situation. This is in this category because, as I understand it, this is rodent droppings from which a person can become ill. Is that true, Jay?

Jay Vincent 7:25

Yeah, it can it you it can get communicated through inhalation of dropping particulates and also crystallized urine, which a lot of the times when when you have um deer mice, which is one of the main carriers, they leave droplets of urine everywhere. That's how they follow their trails. And so if you get into a really dry environment where that where it's literally evaporating and crystallizing, and you have a heavy infestation in the ceiling or a wall, just simply walking down the hallway and breathing, you could you can contract the virus.

Richard Piet 7:55

So, Tony, I imagine you've seen this too, where uh stories like the hontavirus thing permeate in the media and you start getting calls, or at least you you might have gotten a call anyway about uh mice, let's say, or or some other kind of of rodent, but now the fear is

Media Stories And Elevated Public Anxiety

Richard Piet 8:15

amped. Is that true?

Tony Sorrentino 8:17

Yeah, absolutely. We we we saw after um Gene Hackman and his wife were um affected by huntavirus that that's the same situation that Jay was just talking about, where people are she was uh by all reports that I that I read online, um, she was cleaning up rodent fecal matter and a dry climate, so it could have been crystallized urine as well. That situation in particular was disturbing. We had a we had a uh a higher awareness of uh rodent activity, people noticing more, seeing more, and then wanting to do something, take definitive action with the cruise ship. I believe that was the Andean strain that was identified, and that one is scary because it can transfer uh not just from rodent to human, but then uh in close quarters, it can transfer human to human. It preys on a weaker immune system, and so uh, you know, uh aged adults and um infants are gonna be more susceptible, as well as anybody with a compromised immune system. So again, being aware of your surroundings, what what's going on around me, what's going on in my home, there there's a risk for exposure. And, you know, again, cleaning that up. Um, I usually will tell my clients to use a bleach and water solution to wet it down before you, you know, either shop vac it or sweep it up so that you're you're not creating a uh open health hazard for you and your family.

Richard Piet 9:58

Jay, you probably uh heard the uh same kind of effects, right? People hear this and now their their anxiety is elevated some and you're gonna get a call maybe sooner than you might have already.

Jay Vincent 10:10

Absolutely. We've had a pretty decent influx of uh proper restoration and remediation sanitation calls.

When To Call A Pro

Jay Vincent 10:18

And um, you know, clients like to be proactive and and uh we always try to help give people tips and stuff, but my best tip is just it's is it really worth it to expose yourself? Um my suggestion would be to have us come over or call a professional.

Richard Piet 10:34

Yeah. And uh is there anything else you would say to uh the average consumer about zoonic diseases and our last moments here in this episode? Is there anything else you'd recommend to them in terms of how to handle it maybe before a professional

PPE, Entry Paths, And Final Warnings

Richard Piet 10:55

like you gets there? Do they have to leave? What are these last few thoughts?

Jay Vincent 11:01

I always suggest to call a professional, but if they get in the living space, that is a concern. I would suggest that you call a professional to find out at least what the proper protocol would be. And, you know, we've got different modes of entry. We've got mucous membranes like uh ocular, so they can your eyes can become an issue and you can have entry through that. You know, your mouth, inhalation, ingestion, and the the one real big one is microcuts. People don't realize that if you have a small little tiny cut on your finger, uh, even if you're using bleach and something gets in there, that's a pathway for something to get in. So yeah, it's just a lot. I mean, we we dress up in spacesuits when we clean. So unless you got a spacesuit, I would suggest don't do it.

Richard Piet 11:48

Yeah, I was just about to say masks and gloves, but uh the sp the the whole outfit probably uh creates the best barrier.

Jay Vincent 11:57

It really does. Yeah, and even then, you never know, you know. So we uh we deal with this every day. We we carry around cards in our all of our technicians carry around cards in their pockets in case we ever have to go be treated that you we're directed to give to the doctors so they know that we possibly may have a zoonosis because zoonosis are they will mimic other sicknesses. It will mock the flu, it'll mock a cold at first, you know. And then all of a sudden, you know, you could get meningitis, you could get severe issues, you know, that stem from that.

Richard Piet 12:33

Anything you want to add, Tony, about uh what folks should know about this?

Tony Sorrentino 12:38

Yeah, um, if a client suspects um any type of wildlife issue in the attic, I would have a professional come out. Proper PPE when entering an attic space or a crawl space. Um, I can't stress the the necessity for uh a full-face respirator. I beg people, you know, don't go up in the attic. I know it's it's a it's a serious issue right now, but let us come out and and address this and see what we can do about it, how we can find a solution for this.

Closing Thanks And Takeaways

Richard Piet 13:11

All right. This is good information to know about zoonotic diseases. Jay Vinston, Smart Solutions of Atlanta, Tony Sorrentino, Pest Pros of Michigan. Thank you both.

Tony Sorrentino 13:21

Thanks, Richard.