Letter

Roger's ants: a new pest in hospitals

BMJ 1995; 311 doi: 10.1136/bmj.311.6997.129b (Published 8 July 1995)
Cite this as: BMJ 1995;311:129.3

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  1. K J Gray,
  2. C Porter,
  3. P M Hawkey,
  4. S G Compton,
  5. J P Edwards
  1. Registrar in microbiology Infection control manager Professor of medical microbiology Department of Microbiology, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds LS1 3EX
  2. Lecturer in applied entomology Department of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT
  3. Professor Central Science Laboratory, Slough, Berkshire SL3 7HJ

    EDITOR,--We wish to report what we believe to be the first infestation of a hospital by Roger's ants (Hypoponera punctatissima). Winged ants were first sighted around the nurses' station in the cardiac intensive care unit in October 1994, and several members of staff reported multiple stings from the ants. The likely source of the infestation was found to be a wall cavity behind a wash hand sink. A persistently leaking waste pipe had damaged plaster boards and cavity timbers and had soaked the concrete floor. The area was heavily populated with sewage flies (Psychoda …

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