The measures of disinfection, disinfestations and deratization (DDD) are very complex, carefully planned integrated methods and measures to control the harmful microorganisms, Arthropods and rodents. The measures include preventive and curative methods in order to significantly reduce the populations of harmful microorganisms, Arthropods and rodents in objects and in the environment. The integrated measures are implemented in different sectors such as Public Health/Communal Hygiene, Agriculture and Forestry, Veterinary field and in the plant protection

For each sector the Government authorities of Croatia (Ministry, Departments, and Counties authorities) issue the licence for work:

• Ministry of Health and Social Care => for the health institutions and other legal companies registrated for Pest Control in the agreement with the Lawof the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases and other complementary legislative prescribed with the mentioned Law for the implementation of DDD services as the obligatory measures for the protection of people against infectious diseases in the objects under the sanitary supervision.

• Department for Veterinary Science in Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development => for theveterinary stations and other legal companies registrated for Pest Control in the agreement with the Veterinary Law and complementary legislatives prescribed with the mentioned Law for the implementation of DDD measures to prevent and to control the infectious diseases of animals and zoonozae, the protection of food of the animal origin and feed and also for the prevention of the contamination of the veterinary environment with pathogen micro organisms and parasites

• The county state office and The city of Zagreb state office for Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development => for the users of the plant protection products (the company or operators) in the agreement with the Plant Protection Law and the complementary legislative prescribed with the mentioned Law for the control and eradication of pests in the agriculture and forestry using the plant protection products.

The license for the work in the sector Public Health and Communal Hygiene is valid 5 years. However the license for work with very strong poison marked as T+ (fumigants) is valid 3 years. The license for the work in the sector Veterinary and Plant protection is valid without any restriction of time period. But if the official inspection (veterinary or sanitary or agricultural) find out that the company and/or operator(s) do not fulfill the requirements written in Law in any of this sectors, the licence is no longer valid. For each sector the conditions for obtaining the license are clearly defined (the expertise, storage space, technical equipments for work, personal protection etc.), the standards of the technology of work and the obligatory education are described in details.

In the sector of Public Health and Communal Hygiene according to the request of the Ministry of Health, the 1 or 2 days courses (depending on the topic of the course) for the obligatory educations of PCO are held 2 times per year, usually in spring and in the fall. The program of the obligatory education in the sector Public Health/Communal Hygiene is divided into 10 courses with different topic:

1. Integrated control of Mosquitoes

2. Integrated control of cockroaches, ants and termites

3. Integrated control of rodents and measures of protection against birds

4. Integrated control of flies, wasps, other Dipterous pests and Lepidoptera of importance in the touristic regions

5. Disinfection

6. Poisonus and annoying animals, occasional invaders, bats

7. Integrated control of pests of food, stored products, museum, church and artifact pests

8. Disinfection, disinfestations and deratization (DDD) as a part of HACCP

9. The basic principles of the implementation of DDD measures in the practice

10. Fumigation.

These 10 courses are repeated each 5 years with little changes in program depending on novelties in the science or in the legislature. After each course (topic) the participants have the written examination of the knowledge connected with the topic and if pass they receive the confirmation valid 5 years signed by Croatian Institute for Public Health and Croatian Pest Control Association. For each course there is a published Proceedings and prior to the course, the participants receive the Proceeding with the lectures for the course.

According to the request of the Veterinary Faculty, Veterinary Chamber of Commerce, Department for Veterinary Science in Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development and Institute for Veterinary, the similar obligatory education for DDD operators is implemented in the veterinary field and Ministry for Agriculture, Fishery and Rural Development the education is implemented in plant protection field. The organizer of the education is Institute for Plant Protection in Agriculture and Forestry of Republic Croatia.

DDD is a multidisciplinary approach to pest control and in the case if a registered DDD company or any legal person with the licence for work wants to implement DDD services in all three sectors: Public Health/Communal Hygiene, Agriculture and Forestry and Veterinary field, they must fulfill the requirements based on laws and to obtain the license for the work in all 3 sectors.

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More than seven centuries of the prevention of spreading of infectious diseases into Croatia

Significant outlines only

• 6th and 7th century (as early as around 530) Antigue medicine and communal hygiene applied "Regulae St. Benedicti" caput 36." "De infirmis fratribus"

• The first hospital in the city of Zadar organized on the base of the "REgulae St. benedicti" (559)

• From 9th to 12th century in Croatia there were 69 Benedictine’s monasteries (mainly along the coast). Alongside of the monasteries the accommodations for the quests were located. The accommodations were equipped with bathrooms, gardens with medical herbs, a pharmacy, drinking water etc. they were the first kind of health station.

• The first hospitalers (synonyms: St. John’s order, Holly Cross order, Maltese order) in the monastery of St. Peter in Nin alongside which there was a hospital under a protection of pope Urban III (1184)

• The first pharmacy in the city of Trogir; the first public hospital (1271)

• Historical facts that led to development of City of Dubrovnik and merging of two settlements, ethnos, economy and language into unique wholeness where all activities were sanctioned by codified Statute of the City (1272). Very early, even before codification of the Statute, the institutions of hygienical sanitary communal establishment appeared in legal, architectural and functional terms, improving over time in accordance with needs of community, commerce and people. Thus the existence of flood surfaces and cisterns (1272) with filters (1304), well or "puč" and technological water (1272), the first gravitational water supply system with desloughing - sill in use (1437), septic holes and sewage draining (1272), the first underground septic system of channels - urban sewage system (1296), draining of precipitation waters (1399), tiling of the city streets (1390), waste removal (1415), sanctions for throwing waste into harbor (1272), regulations of leprosy and leprosariums (1272), Dubrovnik quarantine - unique in the world (1377), lazaret and contumation regulations (1420), special storage of grain reserves (1410-1590) is registered along with existence of pharmacy (1317), orphanage (1432) and hospital (1347).

• Decision for the establishment of Dubrovnik quarantine (1377), which was the first economic quarantine in the world

Decision of Dubrovnik quarantine, Libber viridis, Cap IL, 1377.

• Building of many lazarets on eastern coast of Adriatic (1377 >) as a barrier for infectious diseases from Middle East to Western Europe and function of sanitary cordon (1728) as the world best administrative sanitary system for protection against import of infectious diseases

• The programmed construction of under ground stored facilities for wheat in city of Dubrovnik (1410)

• The first systematic antimalaric asanation (1870)

• The first hospital disinfection (1874)

• Foundation of "Sanitation Institute" (1894)

• Seminars for disinfectors (1921)

• The first medical entomological laboratory (1922)

• The introduction of Gambusia holbrooki (1924)

• Development of pest control (1920-1930) through organizational structure made by dr Štampar who was the person with clear public health conception

• Organizational forms of mutual linking of institutions into one unit until appearance of DDT (1941-1945)

• Due to demanding situation in the field of agricultural products protection in transportation and transfer and general conception of hygienization of premises in accordance with public health doctrine, Government of NR Croatia (1947) founded three state-owned companies for pest control including "Cijanizacija" in Zagreb, "Dezinsekcija" in Rijeka and "Cian" in Split. The seats of these companies were in towns with early developed sanitary approach in accordance with historical sanitary principles for persons, premises, goods and contumations. These towns soon became promoter and seed-plot for development of sister companies throughout ex Yugoslavia.

Nowadays there are approximately 80 registered Pest Control companies in Republic of Croatia.

We are very proud of the past and nowadays
expert activities in DDD fields in Croatia!