US EPA

7426107 

Journal Article 

Availability and Nature of Commercial Tick Control Services in Three Lyme Disease Endemic States 

Jordan, RA; Schulze, TL; , 

2020 

Yes 

Journal of Medical Entomology
ISSN: 0022-2585 

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC 

CARY 

57 

3 

807-814 

English 

31794013 

10.1093/jme/tjz215 

WOS:000580630900020 

https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/57/3/807/5651071
Exit
 

In an update of earlier surveys conducted in Connecticut and New Jersey in the mid-1990s, an online survey of private commercial pest control firms engaged in residential tick control showed that the application of synthetic acaricides continues to be the primary method of control used. The carbamate and organophospate acaricides, previously the most commonly used against ticks, have given way to synthetic pyrethroids and, to a lesser extent, the use of natural product/organic acaricides. Typical costs for a single acaricide application today ($100-$200 for a 1 acre [0.4 ha] property) remain similar to those reported from the earlier surveys, although the frequency of applications and, therefore, also the overall annual cost has increased. The application habitats within residential properties, life stages targeted, and application equipment used have not changed appreciably since the mid-1990s. While most survey respondents expressed knowledge of natural product acaricides and Damminix Tick Tubes, many reported that they either did not employ or knew very little about other alternative tick control methods (including entomopathogenic fungus and topical application of acaricides to tick hosts via 4-Poster deer treatment stations or Select TCS rodent bait boxes). This suggests either a failure to adequately inform the pest management industry and their potential client base of the availability of alternate methods, and/or industry concerns about cost and effectiveness of the alternatives. 

acaricides; pest management industry; surveys; tick control; acaricide; animal; economics; human; Lyme disease; procedures; tick; tick control; United States; Acaricides; Animals; Humans; Lyme Disease; Mid-Atlantic Region; Tick Control; Ticks