In general, pest which comes from the French word “peste†or “pestis†in Latin meaning plaque and later on the late 15th century it gave birth to the word pest, is known as a destructive insect or animal that attacks crops, food, livestock and even our properties are labeled as pest. At times annoying person or thing or creature are categorize as pest. In this article we would mainly focus on those destructive or nuisance insect or animal.
Majority of the people in Singapore and in the world thinks that all insects, bugs, crawling things and small creatures are pest when in fact there are a lot of this insects, bugs, crawling things and small creatures are the natural predators of the real pest. For us to really understand Pest control we should first understand which creature is harmful or beneficial to our environment, to us and our crops. In the government website of Singapore which is www.nea.gov.sg we could find there that their main effort is mainly focus on stopping the so called vectors. Vectors are defined as organisms that transmit disease.
In Singapore they named the five main vectors and the diseases that they could transmit.
Number 1 on their list is the mosquito which could transmit:
1. Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever
2. Chikungunya
3. Zika
4. Malaria
5. Japanese Encephalitis
6. Filariasis
Number 2 on their list is the Flea which could transmit:
1. Plaque
2. Murine Typus
Number 3 on their list is the Rodent which could transmit
1. Rat Bite Fever
2. Leptospirosis
Number 4 on their list is the Cockroach which could transmit:
1. Cholera
2. Food Borne Diseases
And last on their list is the Fly which could transmit:
1. Cholera
2. Typhoid and Para Typhoid
3. Salmonellosis
4. Dysentery
The National Environment Agency or NEA of Singapore is responsible of monitoring the activities and population of these vectors including the diseases that arise from the vectors infestations. They are also in charge of the enforcement of the national standards that is followed by both residential and commercial premise which includes the different pre emptive approach like making sure that all the premise is free of breeding habitats of vectors, Educational campaigns to improve the knowledge of the citizens and residents of Singapore, Research and development of these vectors and the development of interventions against it which includes testing of pesticides, insecticides and rodenticides and finally the registration of vector control operators, technicians, and workers in the field of vector control industry.
You might be wondering why we have tackled areas concerning vectors. Are we on a different topic? Is this related to our topic of pest control in Singapore? We are not on a different topic, and yes is this is all about pest control in Singapore. To shed light on this I will mention the Top 5 Pest in Singapore:
#5 Bed bugs – are parasitic insects that are found in our bed or sofa or on animals. It feeds on blood.
#4 Ants – are nuisance insects that sometimes bite us if we cross path with them and they have a sweet tooth for our foods left in the open.
#3 Termites – it said that almost every 1 out of 10 household has encountered their infestation. Since Singapore has humid weather condition the country is a natural habitat for this insects that breed on moist and damp wooden surfaces which includes the indoor furniture and wooden made houses.
#2 Rodents – common brown rat or sewer rat and black rat or roof rat are found in residential and commercial areas though Black rats are dominant in urban and coastal towns.
#1 Cockroach – is the most common pest found in Singapore and the same with most countries. This pest is very resilient and could live even in the hardest conditions.
As you might have noticed these mentioned pests are mostly members of the vector category. Except for the termites and ants which are not know carriers of human diseases. As a whole though, all of these pest fall in to the same government agency which also handles the Pest Control Operators. Termites and Ants are still part of the National Environment Agency’s problem.
Now that we know our top 5 pest and the agency responsible for their extermination we then think of the method we are going to use. We could basically choose between the natural way or use chemicals. In dealing with these pests we could apply different tactics to deal with different pest. Let’s discuss them according to the different pest they target.
#5 Bed bug – there are different ways to kill this pest. Some of the common knowledge in killing them are as follows:
1. The use of heat treatment on the infested area. This could be done in different ways which includes, pouring of hot water, using heat dryer and exposing it under the sun.
2. The use of baking soda with water on the infested area.
3. The use of anti bed bug chemicals. Which comes in spray or powder form.
4 Ants – are pest which sometimes are also predator of other pest like the bed bug, cockroach and their favorite the termites. But if you really need to take them out you could do one of this:
1. If the ants nest and pour hot water or oil or kerosene in the hopes of killing the larvae or their queen.
2. The use of natural pesticides – water mixed with soap, white vinegar with water, fruit acid with water, diatomaceous earth and boric acid.
3. the use of insecticides which comes in different forms like chalk, spray, and liquid types.
#3 Termites are easier prevented than killing them when they already invaded your space. Here are ways on preventing termite infestation and killing them when it happens.
1. Curing of wood materials with crude oil, or brushing with thick varnish
2. Use of chemicals like termiticide or killing them using a subterranean termite treatment.
#2 Rodents are considered one of the most damaging pests in the world. Not only does it carry diseases but sometimes it also destroys the building or things in our place. Here are some of the ways to get rid of this pest.
1. Rodent traps – it could be mechanical or a very sticky adhesive.
2. Use of Rodenticides is sometimes needed if the infestation is about to blow up in your face.
3. Get a pet cat to deal with the menace.
#1 Cockroach – Aside from the usual stomp and squashing of this pest here are some of the best countermeasure you could use.
1. Cockroach trap – it could be an adhesive paper or an electric trap
2. Use of insecticide – it could be a spray, poison tablet, chalk or liquid form
A clean home where this pest can breed or eat is still one of the best ways to control this pest. There are also new technologies out in the market where you just plug it in and high frequency waves will drive away this pest within its recommended radius. Whatever your choice is, asking for professional help is advised.
