Experiences on the use of Ekontrol, remote control system, for real-time monitoring of rodent control stations

Abstract: Rodents are often a big problem for the food factories. They can cause significant direct and indirect damages to the foods. The EU Biocides Regulation 528/2012 (EU BPR), and the Risk mitigation measures for anticoagulant rodenticides as biocidal products, has introduced great limitations in the use of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARS). Therefore, the three line classic of defence can not be used with SGARS to monitoring and control rodents. The indoor use is not possible in food factories and outside the structures are not permitted permanent bait systems. According to IPM programs, the monitoring system must be accurate and fast. Ekontrol is a system developed to verify real-time various types of rodent monitoring and control systems, like Ekomille, Bait Box, Multiple Catch Traps. The Ekontrol hardware is able to detect movement associated with heat and later can send a message to a specific web platform. Differently to the other systems presents in the market, Ekontrol do not need to have a control unit and every sensor is completely independent. The communication system takes place through a GSM/GPRS network. The Ekontrol management software receives the data and daily check the condition of the Ekontrol hardware and send notify in real-time on the smartphone. In the present study are reported field trials carried out to evaluate the remote monitoring system Ekontrol in rodent management programs.