Actions that Assist Recovery from Pest Attack

Action

Develop an IPM program that addresses the top risks to your facility, ensures subsequent incidents will be detected early, and ensures appropriate detection steps are taken. Continue to integrate pest management practices into the standard operation of a collection's care. With this integration, a pest infestation can be reduced from a crisis or chronic level to a nuisance level.

Action

Rodent infestation is strongly related to human food use and waste. As well, other pests are attracted to spilled food and waste. Ensure program staff clean halls immediately after events, including food service, and remove garbage. Budget such clean-up into rental agreements. Monitor and facilitate compliance.

Action

Reduce the chance of false warnings of infestation by cleaning up after previous infestations, removing insect bodies, etc. Add relevant information to records about extent of infestation, damaged objects, likely source, and cost of recovery in time and money.

Action

During treatment of an infestation, losses to collection, time expenditure, cost of activities, and useful resources should be noted for future reference. In institutions where staff turnover is high, such records are valuable to help plan for future situations. Economic records can be used to underline the importance of ongoing IPM activities and to support budget requests.

CCI Technical Bulletin Nº 29.