19 Weeks Warning

Record dengue in Florida, record West Nile in Europe, and a very strong El Niño. What do they mean for pest control? Plus AI search, Rentokil’s smart rat trap and three deals.

Ecolab just told investors that its third quarter was an inflection point. Pest sales grew 8%. And the pest profit margin edged down. Both of those are true. The reason is the story of this episode. Ecolab is putting about 5 points of margin back into the pest business, and earning almost all of it back.

PestWorld 2026 took place this October 2026 in Grapevine, Texas, where more than 4,600 pest professionals gathered. AI was in nearly every booth. 4 new things from the floor: a fast-acting dust from Envu, a spray drone, a fly light designed to be seen, and a mosquito monitoring system from Mosqitter. The 5th item is a connected trap on a shared network. I think it may be the one to watch.

Rentokil grew 3.4% organically in the third quarter, and residential leads in North America improved to a 1% decline in September. What changed, and what to watch next?

Rollins revenue rose 6.2% in the third quarter, its 100th straight quarter of growth. But organic growth slowed and the 2026 outlook came down, as AI search changes how customers find a pest control company. What happened, and what to watch next?

Hurricane Isaias, fuel and dengue, a new US residential president at Rentokil, Europe’s biocides rules and the El Niño file.

Rollins says AI search drives at least half of its lead decline, and an analyst test found AI tools recommend independent operators 79% of the time. Also covered: Rentokil's $230 million SOLitude sale, a softer Pest Index, fuel near records, a White House mosquito order and El Niño at +2.2°C. Four takes on the record.

La Fed subió las tasas de interés por primera vez en 3 años, y Rollins y Rentokil tocaron mínimos de 12 meses en la misma semana, mientras los operadores independientes seguían creciendo. En este episodio vemos qué conecta esas 3 cosas, adelantamos la primera aparición pública de Rollins desde que se quedó corta en el segundo trimestre, y desglosamos un acuerdo de 3,15 millones de dólares en California que pone el manejo de residuos y la eliminación de datos en el radar del cumplimiento normativo.

The Fed hiked rates for the first time in 3 years, and Rollins and Rentokil both hit 12-month lows in the same week, while independent operators kept growing. This episode covers what connects those three things, previews Rollins' first public appearance since its Q2 miss, and breaks down a $3.15 million California settlement that puts waste and data disposal on the compliance radar.

In April 2025, French researchers found West Nile virus in southern France. The first human case came 19 weeks later. That work wasn't done by a pest control company. Plus record diesel, Europe's West Nile cases up fifteen-fold in six weeks, and an Australian notice that voided certificates retroactively.