5 Questions with Brandy Pyzyna

Brandy Pyzyna, vice president of Scientific Operations at SenesTech, addresses why preventive methodologies are vital to your Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocols, and how adding fertility control can further reduce rat populations and keep them down.

1. Why are preventive IPM measures important in food facilities?

Respondents surveyed in QA’s 2018 State of the Market for Rodent Control in Food Safety Facilities noted that their greatest worry was the potential for rodent contamination of food resulting in citations or customer concern. Food facilities who are leading the way with the incorporation of preventive IPM controls are better positioning themselves to control potential rodent infestation side effects.

2. Why is fertility control a key part of preventive IPM?

Rat infestations can be fought with traditional lethal methodologies, but survivors can rebound quickly leaving you with a reinfestation risk. Fertility control is a preventive tool that can complement your IPM, reduce the reproductive capabilities of the survivors, and give you greater peace of mind in preventing unforeseen population spikes.

3. How does ContraPest support IPM protocols to keep rat populations down?

ContraPest is a liquid fertility control solution, that enhances your IPM protocol by preventing rat reproduction. Effective on both male and female Norway and roof rats, ContraPest can reduce fertility within a rat population, helping to get even your most difficult rat infestations under control.

4. How can ContraPest add value to your current IPM protocols?

Numerous field studies have shown ContraPest is most effective when deployed at rat foraging locations. This allows PMPs to deploy ContraPest efficiently, without potentially doubling the number of bait stations needed to fight a rat infestation. As fertility control brings the populations down, bait stations and site clean ups can be reduced, helping to optimize service calls and improve technician productivity.

5. How does SenesTech support PMPs who are integrating ContraPest?

We have seen great success from PMPs who are deploying ContraPest as part of traditional IPM protocols, as well as non-lethal protocols, for clients looking to reduce the use of lethal methodologies. With this success, we also recognize that customers have unique needs at individual sites, so our fully trained technical team is on call to answer questions, provide product training, and support deployments. We can be reached at technical.services@senestech.com.

ContraPest^® is a Restricted Use Pesticide, due to applicator expertise. Please read and follow label instructions. Target species: Norway and roof rats.