Bayonne, N.J-based AP&G Co. has been working closely with members of the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University by providing Catchmaster fly control products to support efforts to study house flies (Musca domestica) near COVID-19 positive households.
Catchmaster’s Gold Sticks Fly Traps, Fly Jars, Fly Bags and Window Fly Traps, were recently donated and deployed at COVID-19 positive households. The samples of flies will be tested for SARS-CoV-2. According to a news release, the goal of the research is to determine whether “flies can be used to detect areas of active transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We are excited to see our Catchmaster fly products being used in the research by Texas A&M University. Nothing beats seeing our products working in the field, especially when they are tied to research of this importance,” Jonathan Frisch, AP&G’s VP of sales and marketing, said in the news release.
The Catchmaster team has been working closely with Drs. Gabriel Hamer, associate professor, and Christopher Roundy, postdoctoral researcher, in the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University to provide the appropriate products for sampling flies. In addition, Dr. Sarah Hamer, DVM, associate professor of epidemiology at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and her team are deploying the traps inside and around COVID-19 positive households.
ABOUT CATCHMASTER
AP&G, a manufacturer of products for rodent, insect and mosquito management, was founded in 1952 as Atlantic Paste & Glue in Brooklyn, N.Y., by Moses Frisch, an immigrant chemist from Hungary. Steve Frisch, current president and CEO, joined his father in 1972, after graduation from Brooklyn College. The third generation of the family working at the business today includes Jonathan Frisch, VP of sales and marketing, and Jeffrey Frisch, VP of operations.
In 1977, AP&G introduced the Catchmaster brand, which led to its focus on developing adhesives for pest management applications. Its products continue to be American-made, and the company currently supplies more than 70 countries worldwide.
Novel chaetotaxy study. Results will be interesting and possibly significant to epidemiological census and contact tracing. Thanks for the communication.