Gotta love The Onion, this is their second reference to bed bugs in a week:
The White House suffered a severe bedbug infestation last week after Vice President Joe Biden reportedly “scored” a discarded recliner chair that “someone was just throwing out” on the corner of Windom Road and 32nd Street.
The short article is entitled, “White House Infested With Bedbugs After Biden Brings In Recliner Off The Curb.”
On January 26, they also had a passing reference to bed bugs in the article, “Exterminator Kind Of Surprised Apartment Doesn’t Have Roaches.”
You may wonder why I am excited by this, but I believe that the more bed bugs are mentioned in the media, the more people will know of their existence, and the more they may begin to ask questions about how to avoid and detect them.
In the absence of an educational campaign from the government, we have to be grateful for a rising awareness of the existence of this pest. (Sadly, it likely comes from people at The Onion either having had bed bugs or knowing people who had bed bugs.) Given The Onion’s special popularity with college-age students, it makes a lot of sense that bed bugs would be a frequent topic.
Here’s a question: has The Daily Show also been doing its part to spread the word about bed bugs?
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Pest Management Professional brings us good news: the first Canadian bed bug symposium is happening in March in Ottawa, to be held concurrently with Pest World Canada (the industry conference).
The Canadian Pest Management Association (CPMA), Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA) and National Pest Management Association (NPMA) are partnering to present Canada’s first-ever bed bug symposium on March 5 in Ottawa, Ontario at the Fairmont Château Laurier.
Designed to raise awareness and inform anyone working with housing the general public how to deal with the difficult issue of bed bugs, the Bed Bug Symposium will provide management tips, both preventative and corrective, to help attendees make informed decisions and stay out of the newspaper and the courtroom.
There’s a PDF brochure here.
There are actually two programs happening — the Bed Bug Symposium, the brochure clarifies, is
. . . geared toward anyone working in the hotel/motel industry,
campus facility maintenance, hospitals, nursing homes, furniture rental companies, federal and provincial governments, etc.
Registration for the one-day Bed Bug Symposium is separate from Pest World Canada (which is only open to pest pros).
This event is good news, because educating people about bed bugs is the most important step in getting rid of them and preventing their spread. If housing providers become educated and better able to prevent and solve bed bug infestations in their properties, it will indeed help keep them out of the newspapers and the courtroom — which is good for everyone.
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Brad Harbison has a new article in PCT Online with more background on Ohio’s EPA request for a Section 18 label exemption request for Propoxur, the process it went through, its current status (“wait and see”), and the prognosis for other states following suit, should it be successful.
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There’s a new New York Times “Neediest Cases” story involving a family battling bed bugs, this time the Shevchenko family in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The family was given a new mattress and loveseat, which they were soon able to move with them to a new apartment.
You will remember earlier “Neediest Cases” stories about families with bed bugs in the Bronx (December 2009), and the Bronx again (January 2007), Nyack, NY (January 2006), Queens (November, 2005), and an unnamed location (November 2004). The Neediest Cases Fund helps families and individuals in distress, and the current season of giving (and the series of articles in the New York Times documenting this year’s stories) runs from November 2009 through January 2010.
It’s not surprising to see so many stories involving bed bugs, since a bout with them can have a serious impact on a family’s finances and their well-being.
Although I am really happy the Neediest Cases Fund was able to help this family by giving them a new mattress and loveseat, this story also reminds me of all those others who are struggling with bed bugs and can’t get good information or treatment. So many who — like the tenant in the story, whose only treatment appears to have been a can of OTC bed bug spray — may have no idea of what their options are.
And then there are all of those who know what their options are, but nevertheless are living with the problem because their building is not managing it well, and they can’t afford to move out (let alone afford to take all the necessary precautions that moving from a bed bug-infested home entails).
Let’s hope New York City takes significant steps in 2010 to help make the situation better — by educating tenants about their rights regarding bed bugs, by providing more and better trained Housing and Preservation Department inspectors to check out complaints, by improving departmental practices (in city departments dealing with public housing, sanitation, etc.) and laws (such as those regarding the sanitizing and resale of used mattresses) so that bed bugs spread more slowly and make fewer people miserable for a shorter amount of time.
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Dr. Mike Merchant has a new post on Insects in the City today about the rise in complaints of perceived insect bites in offices around this time of year.
Merchant suggests a number of possible explanations for these mystery bites — fleas, rodent mites, a theory that dry air and static electricity can cause small particles to cause “prickling sensations” (we’ve heard people speculate about this in the forums), other causes such as allergies, and the “contagion” of the idea of being bitten in the office — any of which may lead to employees perceiving (correctly or not) that they’re being bitten by a pest.
All of these causes are possible, as are bed bugs, which have been making themselves known in the workplace as of late.
Although Merchant appears to be talking about people who “feel” a bite at work (not just people who discover “bites” on their skin), and so at first glance it may seem bed bugs are ruled out (since almost no one seems to feel them when they bite), we do hear from some people whose allergic reactions to known bed bug bites appear to involve feelings of crawling and prickling as if one is being bitten when no pest is presently biting.
I agree with Merchant that pest management professionals (PMPs) need to carefully investigate whether a pest is behind these types of complaints.
I have two concerns when it comes to “mystery bites” in the workplace.
First, I worry that in some cases, PMPs may give up too easily. Glue traps can work, but may not catch a small problem, at least not at once.
I can’t speak for mites or fleas, but if an office had a small and new infestation of bed bugs, it is possible to receive bites and not easily find bugs or evidence (even with sticky traps). If bites and complaints increased over time, an active monitor might be a good idea for ruling bed bugs out. Plug-in flea traps may similarly help rule out fleas.
In addition, I was troubled by this statement in Merchant’s post:
As a [pest management] professional you need to communicate honestly and fully with your building manager. If you opt to “shoot blanks”, say with water or an air freshener, the manager should be fully informed and agree with the tactic.
It would be entirely unethical for a PMP to “shoot blanks” and not tell the building manager.
However, even if the PMP is in cahoots with the manager, I think this is not a good (or ethical) tactic. We have heard plenty of stories of “no evidence of bed bugs” where evidence was later found.
And having heard many hundreds (if not thousands) of stories of people who use PMPs (at work or at home), I have learned that if someone is getting treated for bed bugs, and the treatment does not seem to be working, many people will simply give up.
They may think their boss (or landlord, or they themselves) hired an incompetent company, they may feel they will be treated unfairly if they press the issue and insist the problem has not gone away. People sometimes resort to self-treatment (which is not a good idea at home, and definitely not at work); still others decide the problem can’t be successfully treated.
Tricking employees into thinking the office was treated for a pest may backfire: it will probably stop employees complaining for a while, but it does not help resolve the problem if indeed there is a problem which just hasn’t been identified correctly yet — whether that problem is an allergy, an early case of bed bugs, or a serious static problem.
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This report from Channel 5 in the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville “Triangle” in North Carolina says bed bug reports are up 50% in the region, according to North Carolina State University researchers, who are tracking their spread in the region.
There’s footage of some serious fecal staining in a local home (as encountered by Triangle pest employees), and of the requisite local entomologist’s bed bug colonies in jars.
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The first step in solving a bed bug problem is identification. Lots of people find a suspicious bug, and need to know (asap) what they’re dealing with.
Some people are able to visit a local entomologist or university extension service, and others will ask a local pest firm to identify their bug.
And some people even put their samples in an envelope and send them away to be identified.
The New Yorker has a new article on Carolyn Klass, who is just retiring from her position as Cornell University’s diagnostician for insect pests, after 38 years. (Note: she says she did not see any bed bugs for the first twenty years.)
Meribah Knight visited Klass’s office:
On her left was a pile of letters from potential infestees. Some were panicky: “[Found] a few weeks ago, not sure. Would like to know if they are bedbugs. I was seen in the E.R. approx. three weeks [ago], and was told I had insect reaction on my calfs.”
Klass’s conclusion: Bedbugs negative.
Some were breezy: “Woke up to see this bug; crushed it and blood stained the white quilt. Looked for more bugs but did not find any. I placed the squished insect in Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2 with alcohol.”
Bedbugs positive.
Some were in denial: “I think it might be a tick.”
Bedbugs positive.
Scrawled on the envelope of one specimen were the words “Red Bug.” Klass peered into her microscope. “Red bug—well, it is a red bug, but it’s a red bedbug,” she said. The bug was crushed. “My guess is it went through the postage meter.”
It’s a service which cost $25, but as the article notes was an unbiased one — unlike pest management firms, who can turn a positive identification into business.
And now the future of the service is unknown: according to the article, Klass has not been replaced. The department’s website says the office is closed through mid-February (which sounds promising).
Rutgers offers a pest identification service, but charges $40 in-state or a whopping $95 out-of-state. Harvard charges $20.
Pest pros and even some experienced bedbuggers who frequent the Bedbugger forums will generally be able to identify a clear, close-up photo of a domestic pest.
If you can’t post a photo and don’t want to pay the above fees, make sure you get good advice: if there isn’t a local university extension or entomology department, consider taking your pest sample to a reputable pest control firm — one which is well-known and cares more about its reputation than selling you an unnecessary service.
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This is a delightfully creepy find: Trimz DDT Children’s Room Wallpaper and Ceiling Paper.
Yes, Disney-themed DDT-impregnated wallpaper, advertised in Woman’s Day magazine back in 1947. Remember, it’s “Certified to be absolutely safe for home use.”
(Remember this next time you see such a statement being made!)
And no, I do not think this is a good idea.
Photo source: picture ID 1225290969 in the Gallery of Graphic Design. (You may also enjoy their Retro Press blog!)
This delightful tidbit was discovered via BoingBoing by way of New York vs. Bed Bugs.
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