Jun 16, 2012 – Have Head Lice, Will Travel
QUESTION:
I have a customer that drives a tour bus with bunks in it. One of the passengers had head lice. Does the bus need to be treated? All furniture is leather and wood, marble floors. But the bunks have mattresses and bedding.
ANSWER:
This is an interesting call, and while insecticide treatments generally are not recommended or necessary for head lice you may want to consider doing something here. Because of this setting it may be important for the owner of the bus to be able to show that everything possible has been done to eliminate any threat of the lice still being present. Head lice cannot live more than about 2 days once dislodged from the host (the infested person), so letting the bus sit for a couple of days should ensure no live lice are present. It also is highly unlikely that any nits (the eggs) are present either, as these are laid only on the hairs of the human host and are cemented to the hair. They cannot just fall off the person, but I suppose we could present the scenario that some hairs with eggs on them "could" possibly come off the sleeping person and be lying around that bed.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
I have a customer that drives a tour bus with bunks in it. One of the passengers had head lice. Does the bus need to be treated? All furniture is leather and wood, marble floors. But the bunks have mattresses and bedding.
ANSWER:
This is an interesting call, and while insecticide treatments generally are not recommended or necessary for head lice you may want to consider doing something here. Because of this setting it may be important for the owner of the bus to be able to show that everything possible has been done to eliminate any threat of the lice still being present. Head lice cannot live more than about 2 days once dislodged from the host (the infested person), so letting the bus sit for a couple of days should ensure no live lice are present. It also is highly unlikely that any nits (the eggs) are present either, as these are laid only on the hairs of the human host and are cemented to the hair. They cannot just fall off the person, but I suppose we could present the scenario that some hairs with eggs on them "could" possibly come off the sleeping person and be lying around that bed.
I suggest that anything that can be removed and laundered, dry cleaned, or run through a hot dryer cycle should be treated in this manner. A VERY thorough vacuuming with a high powered vacuum should be done all over and around the areas of the bus where this passenger may have sat or slept. Even though it is unlikely that live lice are still present it is just an added precaution to offer the best assurance to the bus owners and future passengers. Even washing the leather and wood is not a bad idea, and perhaps should be done occasionally anyhow for basic sanitation.
You then could apply a light treatment of a labeled pyrethrum to the localized areas as well, concentrating on crevices where any lice may have crawled. Again, after just a couple of days it is unlikely any dislodged lice would be alive, but this light treatment may be comforting to people. You are not going to find any pesticides labeled for "head" lice because this is not a treatment that is needed, but the use of a product labeled for use on public transportation should be legal for them.
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