Recently a woman died and a man is seriously ill due to receiving kidney transplants from a donor who carried the LCMV virus. The virus was responsible for the death of three other kidney transplant patients on the east coast in 2005.

The donor was a homeless man. Experts suggest he received the virus from rodents, pets or wild animal droppings. Typically the virus causes symptoms similar to the flu. 

The virus is not easily passed from human to human. The only known way the virus is acquired from another human is from mother to fetus.

Due to the small supply of available organs, recipients will often take an organ from someone at high risk of disease and health problems. 

It does not seem to be a major problem with pregnant women, but avoiding animal droppings is another issue that pregnant women need to be concerned about more than most people.

Throughout history rodents have always been a problem or a nuisance for people all over the world. Professional rodent control services in New York City and New Jersey can be quite helpful if you have not been able to get rid of rats and other unwanted critters. Be sure to avoid their droppings.

If rats or mice are causing you trouble, Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program is the answer. The smart solution to rodent problems, Track & Trap uses a special tracking system that allows you to actually see all the places where disease-carrying, destructive rodents are getting into your home or business. One-pound, one-foot long rats can squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter. Mice can push their tiny bodies through spaces that don’t seem to be much bigger than a baby’s fingertip. Finding their entry points can be a challenge.

The Track & Trap program begins with installation of a special tracking box. Packed with tasty rodent treats, the box is dusted with a special fluorescent powder that adheres to the feet of the hungry varmints. As they come into feed, they track the powder around, leaving trails to their entry sites and back to their nests. Stern’s rodent eradication experts use a special UV light to follow these tracks. We know exactly where homes and buildings have to be sealed to prevent rodents from entering.

The program is eco-friendly and comes in two sizes for mouse or rat control. Click here for more information on Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program.

New York City has gone on a rat rampage in an attempt to make a dent in the city’s considerable rodent population. Rat czar Bobby Corrigan, the noted rodentologist, and his team (dubbed the rat pack) are scurrying about the city looking for signs of rodent infestation. When a problem is found, property owners must correct the problem quickly.

The world record for biggest rat is held by an Asian rat that weighed in at a hefty 1 pound 7 ounces. (As a comparison, “purse dogs” like those favored by Paris Hilton weigh about 3 pounds; the average house cat weighs, 6 pounds.) Fortunately for NYC residents, it’s the Norway rat that makes the Big Apple its home. Weighing just a pound, adults grow to be between 1 and 1.5 feet long, though that’s plenty big enough.

At least we don’t have the problems found in some parts of the world. In the remote state of Mizoram, India, an army of rats has caused a critical food shortage. Initially attracted by tasty bamboo flowers, the rats have been feasting on standing crops and rice stored in granaries.  Rats have devoured nearly three-quarters of the region’s annual rice supply. State authorities have initiated a “kill a rat, get cash” program, paying 5 US cents for every dead rat. What they need is Stern’s Track & Trap mouse and rat control program.

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day and everyone’s talking about “green” solutions to save our planet. Stern Environmental Group has long been a believer in environmentally friendly solutions to pest control problems.

Stern is one of an elite few pest control companies to introduce to the U.S. the revolutionary new non-toxic Cryonite system so popular in Europe. Cryonite uses no toxic pesticides or harmful chemicals and is extremely effective against bed bugs, pesticide-resistant German cockroaches, Indian meal moths and other annoying insects. With no noxious odors, messy wet residues or health implications, Cryonite is safe for children, pets (even fish!), asthmatics, allergy sufferers and the elderly.

Cryonite kills insects by freezing them with a carbon dioxide vapor that can penetrate into cracks and crevices and reach the undersides of furniture. The CO2 used is food-grade quality recycled from industrial processes. A truly “green” system, Cryonite does not add CO2 to the atmosphere.

Our unique Track & Trap mouse and rat control system is another “green” solution to pest control. This innovative system uses a fluorescent powder to track rodents to their nests. Entry points into your home or business are pinpointed and permanently sealed, keeping rodents out. The fluorescent tracking powder allows nests and dens to be located and rodents trapped and permanently removed.

If you’re a landlord and you get a call from one of Bobby Corrigan’s “Rat Pack” (see our Feb. 6 post), give Stern a call. Don’t risk being saddled with a city citation. NYC’s new rat master will only give you two weeks to evict the varmints if rats are discovered on your property.

Stern Environmental Group provides expert rat and mouse control and eradication. We use snap traps, rodenticides and mechanical traps to get rid of disease-ridden rodents. We also provide rat and mouse inspection services for restaurants, industry, multi-family units and homes.

Our revolutionary new Track & Trap mouse control installation is the perfect choice if your rodents come in small packages (a bigger rat-sized system is under development). The Track & Trap system is the smart, innovative, green way to take care of your mouse problem. A special tracking box is loaded with food to attract the furry critters. As mice scurry around the food trough, their feet become dusted with fluorescent powder, leaving tracks that can be followed back to their dens, ensuring that no mouse is missed by our eradication team. Click here for complete information on Stern’s Track & Trap mouse control system.

Unless we’re amazingly fortunate, every one of us, at some point in our lives, has had to endure the tedious task of dealing with those fluffy little balls of sofa-chewing, dropping-leaving, cat-provoking, seemingly invincible joy. That’s right, I’m talking about mice. When aimless snap traps and cheese have got you frustrated to no end, alas, there is another solution: the Track & Trap mouse control system, by Stern Environmental.

Perfect for restaurants, industrial settings, multi-family units, and homes, this innovative new technology not only takes care of one or two mice, but all of them. First, a mouse control expert will install a special mouse tracking box containing food attractant, surrounded by an environmentally friendly, powdered fluorescent chemical which covers the feet and bodies of the mice as they eat.

Then, as the mouse scurries back to its nest or hole, it will leave tracks of the fluorescent powder. After a few days, many of the mice (if there happen to be more than one) will have discovered this food source and, in turn, will have made more powder trails leading back to their nests or holes. Finally, a mouse eradication expert will come and track the path of the mice using a special UV light that will illuminate the box’s fluorescent powder and uncovering the mice’s feeding trail. Through doing this, they can then pinpoint each of the entry points and set traps, accordingly.

In addition to the Track & Trap mouse control system, Stern also provides traditional rat and mouse control, including snap traps, rodenticides, and mechanical traps, as well as rat and mouse inspection for any environment, such as restaurants, industrial settings, multi-family units, and homes. Don’t let these little pests scrounge throughout your home, any longer. Give Track & Trap a try!

It was a little disconcerting when the paper in the trash can started to rustle. I was eating lunch at a friend’s shop during her break. Her boutique is fashionably small in keeping with NYC rents. There’s the main showroom, a closet bathroom, and a small storeroom in which she keeps a card table and chairs for sorting product, doing paperwork — and eating lunch. Uneaten crusts, sandwich wrappers, empty yogurt containers all go into an open trash can in the corner to be emptied once a week.

It was from the rubble of empty styrofoam boxes and fast food bags that the rustling came yet again. We stopped talking and in fascinated horror watched a little gray mouse pop his head up out of the mess, a crust of desiccated burger clutched in his mouth, peer at us out of his beady black eyes, leap onto the floor and scurry away. Definitely time to call Stern!

My friend is a perfect candidate for Stern Environmental Control’s innovative smart mouse control program, the Track and Trap system. The amazing Track and Trap system allows our pest control experts to find the entry holes mice are using and seal them up tight, preventing mice from getting in and solving your problem. It’s the perfect solution for rodent problems in restaurants, industrial settings, multi-family units and homes.

By luring mice into a food box coated with a fluorescent chemical, Track and Trap allows our pest control experts to literally follow their tracks and find all entry and exit points so they can be permanently sealed. Click here for a detailed explanation of the Track and Trap system and amazing photographs of the system in operation.

While Stern also provides traditional mouse and rat control and eradication programs, the new Track and Trap is smart, innovative, environmentally friendly and fast way to solve your rodent problems. Track and Trap has been so successful in eradicating mice that a system is under development for rats. If you have a rodent problem, call the pest control experts at Stern Environmental Control today. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.

Gross! When I went into the kitchen to make breakfast, there was black “rice” on the counter — mouse turds. Disgusting! A trip to my in-laws’ cottage is supposed to be a relaxing weekend, not a scubfest. Nevertheless, out came the scrub brush and bucket. Before breakfast I scoured down every surface and checked every cupboard and closet. We definitely had a mouse, (at least, I was hoping there was only one).

Not native to North America, mice arrived with early European settlers and quickly spread throughout the country. Typically nocturnal, mice eat grains, fruits, vegetables and refuse. Only two to three inches long (with a tail nearly twice that length), they can squeeze through the tiniest holes to gain entrance to your home and the “gourmet buffet” waiting in your kitchen.

Mice are inexhaustible breeders which means that my single mouse will soon be joined by a growing family. Though mice only live about a year (rats up to 2 years), a single female mouse can produce more than 70 offspring in her lifetime! A typical mouse can produce 60 droppings in a day. You do the math; even a single mouse equals a big problem. Mice spread disease, E. coli, fleas, microbes, and other nasty things that you don’t want in your house or near your children.

Stern Environmental Group uses a revolutionary new Track & Trap system to eradicate mice. Using UV light, the system pinpoints where mice are entering your home so they can be trapped and all entry points sealed. (See our May 10, 2007 blog post for more info and pictures.) Visit our website to learn about Stern’s pest and wildlife control services; just click the post title. Call our experienced professionals to find out about the new Track & Trap solution to your mouse problem. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.

How does it work?

• First, Stern mouse control experts install a special mouse tracking box packed with tasty mouse treats that the little critters find irresistible. Unbeknownst to the mice, the box housing the snack bar also contains a special powdered fluorescent chemical. While the mice jostle around the buffet table, the chemical adheres to their feet and bodies.
• When the mouse is stuffed and waddles home, he leaves a telltale trail our mouse experts can follow. (See photos.)
• Our mouse eradication experts track the glowing paths using a special UV light to pinpoint the exact locations of entry points and nests. We completely seal all access points so mice can’t get in. If the nest is located in the home, the tracking system tells us where to set our traps to remove every last critter from your home, safely and without dangerous chemicals that could harm your children or pets.

To learn more about our innovative Track & Trap mouse eradication solution, click the post title. If mice are nibbling at your patience, call the pest control experts at Stern Environmental Control today. You’ll sleep well tonight when your get “Stern” with your pests.

In Maui, Hawaii, a stock clerk was sent to clean up a storeroom. It was filthy and he noticed dried mouse or rat droppings in some areas. A couple of days later, he called in sick with what he thought was the stomach flu — sore joints, headaches, vomiting. He went to bed and never got up! Within two days the clerk was severely ill and weak. His face and eyeballs turned yellow and his blood sugar plummeted. He was rushed to the emergency room where he suffered massive organ failure and died within hours.

A fast-acting virus in the dried rat/mouse droppings killed this young man. Once dry, the droppings disintegrate into a dust that can easily be breathed in or ingested if protective gear is not worn and if exposed skin is not thoroughly washed. The clerk was exposed while sweeping the storeroom.

It’s a cautionary tale for the rest of us. At some time between manufacture and consumption, canned and boxed food stuffs are stored in a warehouse. Warehouses and sometimes even supermarkets may harbor rats or mice, even those in upscale neighborhoods. Protect yourself and your family from possible infection by ALWAYS carefully washing off the tops of canned sodas or canned foods with soap and running water and wiping off pasta packaging, cereal boxes, etc.

If you can’t wash off a beverage can before drinking from it, use a straw. An investigation by the the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta discovered that the tops of soda cans can be encrusted with dried rat urine which is toxic and can be lethal. Canned drinks and other food stuffs may be infected by rat droppings or urine during storage in warehouses. They are rarely properly cleaned before being transported to retail outlets and plunked on the shelves to be purchased by unwary consumers.

Protect yourselves and your family. It takes but a moment to remove any potentially harmful residue from food packaging. You wouldn’t think of eating an apple from the market without washing it first. Remember that the next time you reach for a soda.

For information on pest control and management, visit the Stern Environmental Group website. If you’re a store or warehouse owner, call us if you think you might have a rodent problem. Make sure you do everything you can to protect your customers. Click the post title for information about our commercial pest control and pest management services. You — and your customers — will sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.