Cockroaches are the leading cause of asthma in urban youth. The more children are exposed to cockroaches the more allergic they become. Pest ants, like the Pharaoh ant , build nests in classrooms and cafeterias. Thousands of ants can forage for food in places like dumpsters, cafeteria food disposal areas, and on cafeteria tables and classroom desks. Ants have been shown to be capable of transmitting Staph and Strep in these kinds of environments.
Fire ants build their nests on school grounds.
These nests often contain more than 100,000 ants. During recess and physical education classes, children often are stung when they step into the nests while playing. Fierce defenders of their nests, fire ants can inflict scores to hundreds of painful stings to children. Fire ants cause one to two deaths a year in Florida. Many kinds of wasps often build nests under eaves and in playground equipment.