Fire Ants and Texas Nursing HomesStaff roles and responsibilities

The Texas Fire Ant in Nursing Home Project

Texas Cooperative Extension

Texas A&M University SystemProject Coordinator: Michael Merchant

17360 Coit Road, Dallas, TX 75252-6599

972-231-5362

Red Imported Fire Ant

Fire ant workers

• Vary in size – (2-5 mm, 1/16-3/16

inch)

• Most of the colony consists of female workers– Defend the colony– collect food– care for queen and

brood

Fire ant stings

• 80% of Texans have been stung by fire ants

• Stings produce severe burning and itching at site

• Can also cause allergic response

image by Matt Yoder

The Sting

Fire ant mounds

Fire Ants

• Respond quickly to nest disturbance

• Live in large “colonies”– 100,000 to

500,000 workers

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How do fire ants find food?

• Workers forage randomly from nest

• Successful workers recruit others to food or water source

• Rapid recruitment within minutes

Ant foraging trails

• Ant that finds food lays down odor trail when traveling to nest

• Other ants follow trail and reinforce it

• Removing trails with common cleaners disrupts attachment to food source

How fire ants enter buildings

What to look for• Outdoor mounds• Live or dead ants• Soil and debris in

resident rooms• Cracks and

openings• Risky conditions

– food– spillage– soiled linens,

clothing

Look for soil, debris or ants along walls and baseboards

Look for outdoor mounds within 100 feet of buildings

Who’s at risk?

• Mobility-, sensory- or communication-impaired residents

• Bedfast residents (6% of nursing home residents nationally)

• ADL dependent residents (estimated 3,375 Texas nursing home residents)

• Catheterized residents (6.5% nationally)

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Consequences of not addressing fire ant problems• Increased risk to

residents• Increased liability for

facility*– failure to provide a

clean and safe environment free of pests and rodents

– failure to have written policies and procedures to prohibit…neglect and abuse of residents

*42 CFR §483.70 (h)(4) [TAG f469], and 42 CFR §483.13 (c) [TAG f224], respectively

National Conference Urban Entomology, May 2006

Michael Merchant, Texas A&M Univ. Research Center, Dallas m-merchant@tamu.edu

Documented fire ant stinging cases in long-term care facilitiesDate Location Victim Citation

1991 Abilene,TX 2 deaths, one survivor Drees (1995)

1992 Houston, TX Elderly female, delayed death Drees (1995)

unrecorded FL 74 yr old female, no reported consequences deShazo and Banks (1994)

Unrecorded TX 90 y female, death 6 days later deShazo and Williams (1995)

8-17-1998 Houston, TX Elderly male stung 2000+ times, recovered. Houston Chronicle 4-8-2003

8-30-1998 Brookhaven, MS 67 y female, 500+ stings, died 5 days later deShazo et al (1999)

2-15-1997 Starkville, MS 60 y male, confluent areas of stings on head, back, arms, chest, d 16 month later

deShazo et al (1999)

7-1-1998 Flower Mound, TX 89 y female, d 3 mo. later Dallas Observer 10-5-2000

5-1-2000 North Port, FL 87 y female, 1600+ stings, d ? days later Miami Herald 5-26-2000

5-29-2000 Hollywood, FL 85 y female, recovered Merchant case files

8-20-2000 Mobile, AL 30s female with mental incapacities, stung hundreds of times, recovered

Merchant case files, Mobile Register 9/7/2000, 10/4/2000

7-19-2001 Palm Beach, FL Elderly male, outcome unknown Palm Beach Post

8-5-2001 Galveston, TX 82 y old female, hundreds of stings, d 3 wks later Houston Chronicle 3/18/2004

4-2002 Bradenton, FL 90 y old female; arm, neck, back, upper torso covered with stings. $1.2 m award

Orlando Sentinel 6-5-2004

8-23-2002 Tyler, TX 91 y old female stung 600+ times. d 6 mo later, unrelated causes, $300K award

Houston Chronicle, 9-8-2002

8-30-2003 Lake Mary, FL Elderly female covered with stings upper body, d later of unrelated causes

Merchant case files

7-7-2004 Calloway, FL Elderly female with numerous fire ant stings, recovered Merchant case files

What can your facility do?

• Establish contract with reputable pest management company

• Make contractor aware of at-risk patients

• Assign responsible person(s) as contacts for contractor

• Establish and communicate written policy concerning fire ant control and what to do in case of sighting

• Assign staff roles• Nighttime bed checks important for

at-risk residents

What can you do?• Report fire ant signs

immediately• Remove at-risk patients

from infested room • Record report in pest

control complaint log• Remove foraging trails

with approved cleaning agent

• Collect ants for pest control company

collect ants in ethyl or rubbing alcohol for preservation

http://fireants.tamu.edu

Texas Imported Fire Ant research and Management Plan

The Texas Fire Ant in Nursing Home Project

• Mike Merchant, Dallas, TX• Janet Hurley, Dallas, TX• Paul Nester, Houston, TX• Wizzie Brown, Austin, TX• Molly Keck, San Antonio, TX• Kim Schofield, Dallas, TX