Maggots in Neptune
Challenge
I was dispatched to a Neptune apartment complex after a tenant had complained to the property manager of flies in his unit. Apparently, the tenant did not know why his apartment was filling up with flies. Upon my inspection, I found maggots throughout the living room area (see picture). Maggots, small white insects that look similar to inchworms, are fly larvae. Maggot infestations occur when flies are attracted to a certain area and lay eggs. Normally, the attraction is the smell of rotting food, particularly rotting meat.
The cause of the maggot infestation in this apartment unit was no different. Sanitation conditions were shockingly poor, and it was just a matter of finding the source of the fly attractant. It did not take much detective work. The tenant had a rotting chicken carcass in his kitchen that he never threw out. The carcass was overrun with maggots and flies were buzzing in and out of it like it was Newark International Airport.
Solution
I vacuumed up all the maggots crawling around the living room with a HEPA vacuum, and also told the tenant that the area had to to be sanitized with rubbing alcohol or a kitchen sanitizer. He agreed to do so immediately. However, to permanently resolve the fly infestation, sanitation conditions had to improve dramatically. I explained to the tenant the importance of sealing and disposing of food waste in a timely manner. I helped the tenant seal the carcass in a plastic bag and throw out his accumulated garbage. After a discussion with him, the tenant understood that his poor sanitation issues caused the infestation, and promised that he would be diligent in making sure that his apartment would be kept clean with no exposed food waste.
High-density living areas like apartments, nursing homes, and dormitories can suffer from sanitation-related infestations like roaches and flies because of the poor sanitation conditions of a single tenant, with the problem then spreading to other “innocent” units. Fortunately, this severe maggot/fly infestation in this one unit had not yet spread to other units in the building. This particular job highlights the importance of educating tenants of their role in preventing infestations, and making sure that they timely report infestations without fear of reprisal. Keeping a building pest free is a joint effort with the tenants and property management team.
