Pests can cause large economic losses in the pharmaceutical industry through contamination of raw materials, store rooms, laboratories, production areas, packaging and finished products.
Further consequences of a pest problem include :
- Damage to your reputation and brand
- Loss of trust from customers, suppliers and industry leaders
- Production downtime which will eat into your profits
- Loss of orders, customers and revenue
- Claims for compensation
- You may be subjected to legal action from regulatory or public health authorities
Some pests pose a very high risk to the Pharmaceutical facilities :
- Flies have been found to carry over 100 human pathogens, including Salmonella, parasitic worms and fungi. They feed on faecal matter, garbage, rotting materials, as well as stored food products. They move between contaminated food sources and clean areas, carrying filth on their bodies as well as pathogenic microorganisms they have ingested. Flies such as house flies regurgitate digestive juices and defecate while feeding and resting, contaminating foods and surfaces with pathogenic and decay microorganisms.
- Cockroaches are the most common crawling insect that infest facilities. They live in cracks and crevices in floors, ceilings, or walls. Their population can grow very fast in voids and spaces, and they will make sure that they are near their food and water sources. These pests are extremely active when the area becomes quiet and offline.
- They carry multiple diseases and allergens and can contaminate food, packagings and stored products through their feeding habits and their excretions especially on the production area (they defecate along their pathways and frequently expel saliva on surfaces to ‘taste’ their environment).
- Stored product pests (moths, weevils, and beetles such as sawtoothed, confused flour or drugstore beetles), can infest edible pharmaceutical ingredients such as starches, sugars or natural herbal products used to extract medically active compounds. They can become a big threat to the production as they can introduce undesirable microorganisms into sterile ingredients, making them unfit for use.
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