as enclosed areas under stairs and under shelving, 
should be eliminated. Cracks in floors where in- 
sects may hide and where spilled materials would 
accumulate should be filled and sealed. 
Food products that become contaminated by 
rodent feces or urine or damaged by gnawing should 
be destroyed or reprocessed for animal feed. 
Although the measures described here may be 
supplemented by judicious use of insecticides, 
rodenticides, and fumigants, the sanitation princi- 
ples set forth are basic for rat and insect control 
in storage areas. Maintaining warehouses and 
storerooms in a rat-free condition protects the 
public by preventing rodent contamination of food- 
stuffs and at the same time safeguards employees 
against on-the-job exposure to rodent-borne 
diseases. 
Household and Premise Sanitation 
and Maintenance 
Interior Premise Sanitation and Maintenance. 
The extent of rodent and insect infestation in and 
around homes and businesses may vary from only 
an occasional mouse, fly, or mosquito to heavy 
populations of rats, mice, cockroaches, flies, 
and mosquitoes. 
Once disinfestation has been achieved, interior 
sanitation and building maintenance will materially 
reduce the possibility of reinfestation. The house- 
wife or restaurant operator must be regular in the 
practice of good housekeeping. Kitchen and dining 
areas should be cleaned daily to remove all crumbs, 
grease, and other material that might attract and 
support ants, cockroaches, and mice. Also, flies 
may breed in accumulations of grease, crumbs, and 
other materials in kitchens of restaurants. Good 
construction and maintenance of floors and walls 
in kitchens and in bakeries, with particular refer- 
ence to elimination of cracks and other openings, 
as well as good arrangement of equipment, will do 
much to facilitate control of cockroaches. Refuse 
should be stored only in sound metal containers 
with tight-fitting lids, and the containers should 
be cleaned frequently. In homes, the metal refuse 
container with the self-closing lid and inner re- 
movable can provides good storage. 
All foodstuffs normally purchased in bulk or 
boxes should be stored in metal or glass contain- 
ers with tight fitting lids, especially where a 
rodent infestation exists. 
Old furniture, junk, and debris that accumulates 
in basements, attics, and storerooms should either 
be removed or stored in a manner that will elimi- 
nate rat harborage. 
Concrete floored basements that occasionally 
become flooded may provide a breeding place for 
pest or disease-carrying mosquitoes. When flooding 
occurs, the water should be removed as soon as 
possible. If drains are present in basements they 
should be kept cleaned out to prevent clogging and 
accumulation of water. In basements where drains 
are not provided, sump pumps are sometimes used. 
However, the small pits in which they are located 
will breed mosquitoes and should therefore be 
screened or treated regularly with chemicals. 
Adequate screening of basement windows and other 
windows in use might make screening or treatment 
of sump pits unnecessary. Occasionally, cisterns 
will be present, generally located in basements or 
under back porches. The tops and all inlets to 
these cisterns should be screened to prevent 
mosquito breeding. 
Householders growing plants in water inside the 
home or on porches are frequently guilty of “raising 
mosquitoes.” When plants are grown this way, 
water in the containers should be changed about 
every five days to prevent mosquito production. 
However, many of these plants will grow as well 
or better if the water is replaced with earth. 
32 
