Daily News Archive Sponsors Rodent and Vector Control in DC The
Rodent and Vector Control Academy will provide the District with
better tools to address rodents while minimizing the health risk
posed by them. The partnership created between DOH, EPA, The
National Zoo, Beyond Pesticides and the University of the
District of Columbia demonstrates the importance of local,
state, federal, public and private partners working together to
manage pests without creating the public health problems
associated with pesticide use. Pesticide use has been linked to
respiratory illnesses such as asthma, neurological problems,
learning disabilities, cancer and other chemical-induced
illnesses. According to a Washington Post article in 2003, the
National Zoo experienced several issues related to rodents. In
2004, two red pandas died at the National Zoo after eating rat
poison that had been buried in their yard because of a chronic
problem with rodents (See Daily News). With the poisonings at
the zoo, rat poison cases that invo