He also discusses the upcoming PCT bed bug seminars where he will talk about the history of bed bug management (did you know that in the 1600s, people were talking about bed bug prevention?), new research about bed bugs, and innovations in bed bug management.

Gabcast! PCT Podcasts #53 - An Update on Bed Bugs from Dr. Mike Potter
Click the play button below to listen.

• New Yorkers: Lou Sorkin on the radio Tuesday at 10:40 am
• entomologists podcasting; bed bugs and disease; another bedbugged motel closed; Singapore, Hawai’i
• PCTOnline on its bed bug seminar last week
• Bed bugs being raised at Virginia Tech urban pest management labs

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Those outside NYC can apparently listen to a life audio stream here, though you might want to test that in advance.

Thanks to Lou for the tip!

Update (11/13): You can listen to the show here or download an mp3 at least until 11/19. Select the “Eco-logic” program from 11/13 at 11 am.

• bed bugs on NPR again: “Bed bugs spiralling out of control all over” according to Richard Cooper
• What is it going to take to convince these people that bed bugs are not dust mites, or fleas?!?
• New PCT podcast with Dr. Michael Potter
• Apparently bed bugs are still a cute idea for many

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While it is always good that bed bugs are in the news, I have a few issues with the way this story was presented.

First, NPR fell into the trap of describing bed bug bites as if they always look the same:

Mayhill Fowler first noticed the bite marks on her wrists and ankles several years ago when she was living in Brooklyn. New ones showed up almost every morning, usually in groups of three.

“I found out later that this is typical,” Fowler says. “‘Breakfast, lunch and dinner’ is what they call it. And they are very small and kind of hard little bites. You know how mosquito bites can be kind of big? These are kind of small, and they are very itchy.”

Well, actually, bed bug bites are allergic reactions and can look quite different on different people. They do not always appear in groups of three. Single bites are the norm in a great many people, while some have a mixture. I’ve heard experts speculate that the multiple bites occur when we move while being bitten (causing the bed bug to start over) or when it is difficult to find a vein. Bed bug bites also not small on everyone, and they can vary from excruciatingly itchy to non-itchy. Even our photos do not do justice to the range I’ve seen. (More photos are welcomed, if your bed bug bites looked different from these.)

These are not small points. We’re told Fowler went to a doctor who had no clue what was causing these marks. If bed bug bites looked the same on everyone, perhaps doctors would have an easier time of diagnosing them.

Secondly, the article describes how she threw out her mattress, without any critical discussion of how most experts do not recommend this. It actually helps spread bed bugs, because unless you destroy it, someone else will pick that mattress up and re-use or re-sell it. (And by destroy, I don’t even mean a spray-painted warning: they’re commonly ignored.) In cities, that person who claims your curbside cast-offs may well be in your building. Good luck trying not to get those bed bugs back from your neighbors.

Thirdly, the article reinforces the idea that bed bugs are easy to find. They cite Michael Potter from a youtube video:

I’ve been on bedbug infestations where people have been to four different dermatologists, and then you get to their home and you flip over the box springs and it’s like the Boston Massacre. I mean, there’s just thousands of bedbugs, and they never knew they were there.

And doubtless, that happens.

But here’s what happened to me, and many others: we read of this sort of thing in articles and on the internets. We gather together a vacuum or some contact killer just in case we do find hordes of bed bugs, we get a friend to help us turn our bed upside down, and steady our nerves with a deep breath, and flip the mattress, and – voila! Nothing.

“Oh! Great! I don’t have bed bugs!” says the innocent Bedbugger.
“Darn, where are they hiding?” says the jaded one.

Many, many people do not find such obvious signs as this. After flipping the mattress and finding nothing, most folks trying to figure out what is “biting” them spend some time saying, “Thank God it isn’t bed bugs!” And in some cases, they are right. But many, many of us are later frustrated to find out that bed bugs can hide really, really well.

Potter’s comment is a great soundbite, but the American public, at this juncture needs information rather than stories. (Remember, I am a huge fan of Dr. Potter’s, and am starting to think he’s even cooler than Harry Potter, if you Bedbuggers know what I mean.) Cold, hard bed bug information is not really Morning Edition’s purview, but with a little editing, you could make this story more informative as well as interesting.

The photo caption “Bedbugs normally live in mattresses or suitcases,” with no elaboration, gives the wrong idea, and although there was an always-welcome article from Dini Miller on signs and what to do, I am afraid this report fell short of what I’d expect from NPR.

Have a listen, or a read, here.

• Bed bugs in Edinburgh, Scotland
• if bed bugs bite you in a hotel…
• Bed bugs on the increase in Australia too
• Winter scene in Williamsburg, with curbside mattresses

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Highlights in today’s update: Cooper talks about pesticide resistance, saying insecticides should not be “the first line of defense” for getting rid of bed bugs. While pesticide resistance does seem to be a huge problem, I am wary of someone saying this on the air, and then not really explaining what options people have. Ideally, you should call a PCO, and the PCO available to you will be qualified, experienced, knowledgeable about the latest research and methods, and able to implement something effective. But since I run this blog, and read everything I can find on the web about bed bugs, and I see how many people interpret “bed bugs becoming pesticide resistant” as “don’t bother with calling a PCO and don’t bother using pesticides,” I think this is a dangerous statement.

If you have the option of tenting and gassing your home with Vikane gas (which is done to houses and entire buildings only, and is legal in NYC but not in every geographical location, since laws vary), this may be the most effective available option. I don’t have any statistics (would welcome links to these), but I understand it’s pretty fool-proof, if expensive and tricky (obviously, pets and people must be out of the building).

Thermal treatment seems very promising, but is also currently not legal everywhere (I understand its illegal in NYC due to the fuels used). If done properly, it should work. But bed bugs are the new gold rush, so your results may vary based on the service you use.

Most non-pesticide means that are available to us now (covering the mattress, which everyone should do, serious vacuuming with a super-strength vacuum, enzyme cleaners, steaming, and freshwater diatomaceous earth) are not sufficient to eradicate a serious bed bug problem. Vacuuming, mattress protection, and freshwater DE are promising ways of preventing infestations, and all these methods may help in clearing up small ones. (People need to remember that you can have a serious infestation without “seeing lots of bugs.”) If Vikane and thermal methods are not an option, for now, you are going to have to use serious pesticides, and a PCO experienced with eradicating bed bugs should be applying them.

Also notable: Richard Cooper, whose PCO business is based in New Jersey, is getting a bed bug dog, and will be testing it in various settings to gauge its effectiveness. We’ve heard mixed reports about some bed bug dogs, which do vary depending on how and by whom they were trained, so this seems like a good idea.

• Cooper Pest evaluates ozone treatments for bed bugs, finds current methods ineffective
• WPRI 12 News on bed bugs, pesticide resistance, and alternative bed bug treatments
• The Wall Street Journal on “new” bed bug-fighting tactics
• reader question: bed bug treatment options

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• new, good Bed bug videos
• Lingering sensations, phantom bed bug bites: what does a bed bug infestation really do to our skin?
• Infested student apartment building at Wright State University, Dayton
• ancient Bed bug tale, from the Fables of Bidpai

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