Analysis Of Large-Scale Rodenticide Bait Consumption In The Sewerage System Of The City Of Madrid

Urban Pest Management Programs demand spatial information. Madrid City Council has been incorporating
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the last three decades. As a result, Health Madrid’s Vector Control Department (DCV) has improved urban pest management notably. Systematic rat control with rodenticide baits in sewer systems (SS) is a common strategy in urban areas of European Mediterranean cities. Pest Control Operators (PCOs) have placed and regularly checked baits in the sewer manholes of Madrid for more than four decades. Since 2018, bait consumption data has been thoroughly recorded, incorporated into spatial databases and analyzed with GIS. This has led to more efficient Pest Management
Program and better praxis. Furthermore, analysis of large-scale rodenticide bait consumption is important because Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principals and risk mitigation of chemical substances have driven recent changes in European legal context, promoting reduction or even suppression of anticoagulant rodenticides, compromising this type of source of information. This manuscript describes how information was collected, processed, analyzes executed, results obtained and main conclusions.