A hospital in Canada has been forced to suspend surgeries indefinitely after it was invaded by an army of resilient ants.
A total of 16 elective surgeries have been rescheduled and relocated from Carman Memorial Hospital in the small town of Carman, which is about 50 miles southwest of Winnipeg.
Southern Health Authority, which oversees the hospital's operation, told CBC that it is unclear how long surgeries at the hospital will have to be suspended, but there is no risk to the safety of staff and patients, or risk of damage to the building.
The authority told CTV News that the postponed surgeries include hernia repairs and gallbladder removals, and that the hospital is working with a surgeon to reschedule them at a different facility.
The ants have not impacted services offered by the hospital other than surgeries that require sterile environments. Residents of the area in need of emergency surgeries will be transported to the next closest hospital.
'Every effort is being made to minimize disruptions and restore normal services as soon as possible,' Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told CTV News.
Exterminators have already been dispatched and are working to get rid of the tiny pests.
Carman Memorial Hospital has been plagued by seasonal ant invasions for the past two years.
Carman Memorial Hospital (pictured), located in the small Canadian town of Carman, has been forced to suspend surgeries indefinitely after it was invaded by ants
The hospital has been plagued by seasonal infestations of the ants for the past two years. Ants are pictured crawling through a crack in a wall (stock image)
The insects, which are believed to be a particularly resilient species called pavement ants, were first spotted in the hospital in 2024. The problem remedied itself after a few weeks when they died off.
Pavement ants
The ants are a common, resilient species native to Europe with the binomial name tetramorium immigrans.
The ants received their common name due to their habit of building nests under pavement.
Pavement ants are typically 2.5–4 millimeters long and are harmless to humans, though they can become pests by invading buildings.
The ants appeared again the next summer, and 'the region took necessary action to remedy the situation,' Southern Health told CTV News.
With the insects appearing for a third time this spring, the health authority has said it needs to take more extensive measures to find a long-term solution to the problem, though it told CBC that the number of ants spotted in the hospital so far does not amount to an infestation.
Southern Health told CBC it believes that the pavement ants have established a colony near the hospital and that they are 'simply seeking food sources inside buildings as ants are known to do.'
The authority added that it is working with exterminators to locate where the insects are coming from.
Thus far, the exterminators have surveyed and cleaned drains and sealed cracks in an effort to stem the tide of the ants, and they have placed sticky tape and bait around the building to figure out where the insects are coming from.
The insects are believed to be a resilient species called pavement ants, and exterminators are working to figure out where they are coming from. Pavement ants are pictured (stock image)
But those efforts may prove insufficient at eliminating the issue.
Rob Higgins, a retired professor of entomology who specializes in ants, told CBC: 'I'm really not aware of many places that have successfully permanently dealt with pavement ants.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to Southern Health Authority for further comment.