You know what I got from the landlord? Extermination preparation instructions copied from a PDF file posted by a pest control company in OREGON and a copy of a Wiki How To….

Bill

Thanks for your comments.

My intention in using the word “epidemic” is not to create panic in the community. Rather, I think people need to take the issue seriously. Since you earlier suggested Cincinnati officials need to listen to professionals and researchers (and I do agree with you on that), I am assuming you also feel the bed bug issue needs to be taken seriously. It is spreading at a very fast rate, everywhere.

That is not the same as saying bed bugs are everywhere already. They are spreading.

And like you, I appreciate the research of Potter, Miller, and others.

I quote from a recent article in the Voice which covered Michael Potter’s remarks at the PCT symposium on bed bugs:

“We have to be in an absolute bed bug state of mind,” warned Dr.
Michael Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky and leading expert in the now global bed bug war, with no apologies to Billy Joel. “This problem is not going to go away. I don’t see how the problem is going to get better. It’s going to get chaotic.”

Potter came equipped with a PowerPoint presentation and tales of bed bugs “oozing their way” through hospitals, nursing homes, movie theaters, drycleaners, Laundromats, schools, and all manner of dwelling spaces.

“Probably every major university in the U.S. has bed bugs in its dormitories,” he said. He flashed a particularly disheartening slide of an infested mattress in the “heart transplant wing of a major urban hospital.”

You probably read the article, entoman, and maybe you were even at the symposium. I bolded Dr. Potter’s words above to stress that they were not the sensational stylings of the journalist, but instead the words of one of the foremost bed bug experts in the world.

So I do not think I am spreading “misinformation” by using the term “epidemic”. Again, I welcome your participation on the site, and your further comments, though I guess we may agree to disagree on this issue. I still sense that you understand the word epidemic to mean something different than I do, though the dictionary tells me that the sense in which I am using it is correct.

I do hope if you find any misinformation here that you will point it out. We are trying to provide a site with good solid information, and the presence of bed bug professionals contributes to that.

Glad to see your comment, and welcome. Are you in the Cincinnati area?

Any city that wants to deal with this problem properly must get professional advice. I would be ridiculous for Cincinnati to not try and enlist the help of renowned local entomologsts such as Michael Potter (U Ky), as well as PCOs who have experience with bed bugs.

I also agree that education is key and people need to be able to admit their bed bug problems. As much as kurtck’s coworker is still unable to do so, I do believe that kurtck being willing to talk about bed bugs to his co-workers is a positive step in the right direction. The more we talk, the more others think about bed bugs.

Regarding the term epidemic: it can refer to situations of rapid and widespread growth. It does not only describe wide prevalence. Look it up!