Chasers, another Campustown bar, has had some of its issues brought to light. Last week, Brian Church, inspector in charge, conducted an inspection of the bar and found live cockroaches inside.

In addition to roaches, the fountain gun holders at the bar were not draining properly, another health risk. 

Scott Davis, owner of Chasers, could not be reached after multiple attempts for comment at this time.

Donald Lewis, professor of entomology, explains the issues roaches bring with them when they enter an establishment. 

“One of the biggest problems with cockroaches is they live in damp, dirty locations,” Lewis said, “and at night when they come out to look for food, whatever was in those cracks or wet gaps they were hiding in is now being transferred on their feet to the counters and tabletops.”

Once a cockroach enters an establishment, they can spread rapidly. A cockroach egg will hatch within roughly 14-50 days depending on the species and will reach adulthood anywhere from 30 days to one year.

A single female cockroach can lay upwards of 300 eggs over its lifespan. Depending on the species of cockroach, within a two-year span there can be thousands of roaches where there were none before. 

“Cockroaches do not inherently carry viruses inside of them like mosquitoes do with West Nile Virus or malaria.” Lewis said. “Several disease pathogens and other micro-organisms have been found on the feet of the roaches. Most commonly intestinal diseases, like gastroenteritis, and sometimes it can be salmonella or botulism.”

The main problem with having roaches in an area like Campustown is how close the buildings are to each other. In a case like Sips and Paddys, where roaches were found and removed, the removal of cockroaches does not necessarily mean the problem is solved. 

“Eliminating cockroaches can be very difficult,” Lewis said. “In a single family home, where there is good attention to sanitation, cleanliness and treatment, cockroach elimination is not that difficult. But when you get to connected buildings such as a restaurant that shares a common wall, you may be able to control the roaches on your side, but unless the other side is controlled, it is only a matter of time until you have them again.”

Lewis went on to explain the need for a dedicated effort to remove them.

“In a restaurant or bar, spilled food, spilled water and construction which allows cockroaches places to hide, it can be very difficult to remove cockroaches, which is why we need to use a multitude of control tactics and not just one thing,” Lewis said. “It will take a concerted effort with a multitude of tactics to remove cockroaches, and you have to treat the entire system and not just an isolated area within it.”