STUDENTS "FLEA"

On Saturday Sept. 13, residents of Pemi and Smith Halls had to flee in the early morning hours. Exterminators arrived to eradicate a flea outbreak. Students were displaced from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in order for exterminators to spray the rooms.

The issue began in the first week of Sept., Building Services was notified of what seemed to be "biting flies" in Pemi Hall. On Sept. 8 the problem had not gone away and PSU's pest control company, TermineX, came in to check out the area. They set glue traps and on Wed., Sept. 10 concluded that the "biting insects" people complained of were actually fleas.

The flea bombing commenced on Sat., Sept. 13. It is unknown where the fleas came from. Chris Johnson, the Manager of Building Services, said, "There is no way to determine the exact reason why they were found in Smith and Pemi. It is possible that there was an animal, or they traveled in or on someone's clothing between locations."

It is not how they spread between locations. After the fleas were confirmed, the plan of action was developed quickly and efficiently, "Once the problem was identified as fleas, TermineX came up with a treatment plan. I worked closely with the manger and technicians throughout the process of dealing with the issues at Smith and Pemi," Johnson said.

Domenica Medaglia-Brown, Resident Director of Pemi Hall, was one of the first to notice the problem in early September. Medaglia-Brown said that "TermineX came Wednesday and confirmed there were fleas. Luckily we were able to bomb on Saturday". She also said that since Saturday, no live fleas have been discovered and BSW has only vacuumed up some dead ones. Medaglia-Brown said about Pemi Hall that, "Most of the flea activity was limited to the first floor lobby area." Rooms where students reported flea activity were given extra treatment.

While the transfer of fleas from Pemi to Smith is unknown as Johnson mentioned, the possibility of "biting insects" in different buildings first came up during a meeting of all Residence hall Directors. Markus Auwaerter, Residence Director of Smith Hall, mentioned to Medaglia-Brown that he also noticed the presence of fleas in his building, and an investigation of Smith hall continued from that point.
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Article Source: http://media.www.theclockonline.com/media/storage/paper569/news/2008/09/19/News/Students.flea-3439963.shtml