There are many uncertainties surrounding covid-19 even though it’s been around for nearly 2 years. People have stopped focusing on the origins of the virus and are now wondering how it can spread. Never mind the new pieces of scientific evidence that come to light every few months about how it spreads, everyone has theories and conspiracies of their own to deliberate over.

The latest of these theories is that covid-19 can spread through pests. Confused? So were we when we first clapped eyes on this suggestion since it’s pretty out-there. However, as the human race has collectively learned over the course of 2 years, it’s never say never with this deadly virus. Therefore, we may have to examine this question from various angles before we can hope to draw any solid conclusions. In answering this question, we may understand what it means for the pest control industry.

From a scientific perspective, there’s no evidence to suggest that pests have a hand (or leg!) in the spread of the virus. When we say pests here, we mean the little ones like bed bugs, etc. Those experts who have conducted adequate research on the matter aren’t convinced that insects such as bed bugs, fleas, wasps, etc. can infect you. However, this doesn’t mean that all pests can’t spread coronavirus.

Historically speaking, rats and mice have played a big role in spreading diseases, especially in large, densely populated cities. Since the world is now littered with such cities, it’s not surprising that people are worried about rat infestations and their potential role in ramping up covid-19 casualties. Also, it doesn’t help that with more and more people staying indoors, rats have something of a free reign now. So do we fear a more intense boost in the spread of coronavirus or something like Rise of The Planet Of the Rats?

Jokes aside, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that rats could bring the virus into our homes. How? Well, let me put it this way, have you ever seen a rat willingly get into a pool of water to get clean? Exactly. Rats will do everything in their power to stay as filthy as possible, meaning if they come into contact with the virus, it’s possible that they could physically bring it into your house. That is if it’s somewhere on their tiny bodies when they do so. As you can imagine, this is a rather remote possibility, but it’s a possibility all the same.

Speaking about other common pests such as cockroaches, the answer is the same as that of rats: they could spread the virus if they come into contact with it and bring it into your living spaces. So what does all of this mean for pest control companies? Good news, it turns out. It’s deeply saddening, but also true that coronavirus has brought out something far worse than cough and fever in people, it’s brought out fear.

This fear has inspired people to take every possible precaution to ensure they don’t contract the virus. Therefore, you can see how this has benefitted (and continues to benefit) pest control companies. Since pest control services were granted key or essential status last year, the impact of a shrinking global economy didn’t affect them all that much. In fact, many pest control companies reported that they had more sales last year than ever before. However, it hasn’t been easy with all the additional safety measures that workers in the industry have had to take so they could continue to work.

It’s not just the role of pests in spreading the virus that has spelled good news for pest control services, it’s also the fact that rising temperatures and other factors have invited pest infestations over the last 2 years. In other words, regardless of the pandemic, pests like wasps (remember the havoc they wreaked last year?) would have increased demand for pest control services anyway. However, one must remember that with increased demand comes an increased need for resources, which is something that small pest control businesses have found it challenging to meet.

After all, if there’s a rat infestation plaguing a town, its residents can’t very well summon the Pied Piper of Hamelin, can they? Their local pest control company would be on speed dial instead, hopefully, stocked up with all the resources required to handle these pests. The high demand for pest control services lately has also boosted the demand for PPC marketing experts and agencies that can promote these brands.

After all, increased demand inevitably leads to an increase in competition. In such a scenario, it’s important to have a great Ad Campaign to help you stand out from rival companies. Since people Google practically everything now, pest control companies are looking to establish their brand images online. To do so, they would need to enlist the help of marketing experts.

However, industry codes and ethics must be considered here. Just because pest control services have enjoyed greater demand (directly or indirectly) due to the pandemic, it doesn’t mean that companies should factor this into their ad campaigns. It would be rather unethical (even downright false at times) for companies to claim that pests can bring in covid-19 and should be eradicated for this reason. All said and done, there’s no concrete scientific evidence to corroborate the claim that pests can affect the impact of coronavirus.

Therefore, it’s not right to jump on the bandwagon and pay more heed to this claim than it deserves. Either way, the bottom line is that the pandemic has helped pest control companies to bring in more revenue, which is something that inadvertently benefits the advertising industry.

Need more leads in 2023?

We share the top strategies and tactics used by fast-growing pest control companies. For free. Once per week.

No BS. No spam. Just killer marketing strategies.