The City of Chicago has been investigating sales of new and refurbished mattresses which are infested with bed bugs, and has closed one store,  NBC Chicago reports.

At least five stores in the Chicago area sold new or refurbished mattresses containing bedbugs, city officials said Thursday.

The stores include Mike’s Furniture, Best Mattress Company, TC Furniture, Guadalajara Furniture and Chicago Mattress. One of the stores, Best Mattress Company, has been shut down.

City officials launched the investigation after receiving a litany of complaints from itchy and sleep-deprived customers.”This is an issue of taking advantage of consumers,” said Commissioner Norma Reyes with the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. “Particularly the most-vulnerable consumers in the City of Chicago — seniors and people with limited income.”

At least one of the stores disputed the charge,

All but one of the mattress stores refused to comment. Chicago Mattress said it disputes the city’s findings.

“I’ve been in business for 13 years and I’ve never had a problem until now,” said owner Andy Shifrin.

Alas, that’s how it is with bed bugs: they were not a problem. And now they are spreading like wildfire.

Chicagoans, check out “Consumer Watch: Purchasing a Mattress in Chicago” (click to download the PDF flyer from Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection).Similar Posts:

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The Safer Pest Control Project is holding an educational event about bed bugs on Weds. Dec. 2, 2009.  It’s not for everyone — the cost is $125!  But it may be of interest to people who run housing and other services and need to learn how to plan to prevent and detect bed bugs.

Consider slipping a flyer to your management company, coop board president, etc.

(The image below links to the sign up page.)

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A family is suing a hotel near Chicago’s O’Hare airport after allegedly encountering bed bugs in the hotel, suffering from bed bug bites, and bringing bed bugs  home with them. CBS 2 reports,

The suit, which names First Hospitality Group, Inc., Holiday Inn Select-Chicago O’Hare and Rosemont RREF, LLC as defendants, claims the Holiday Inn failed to exterminate the infestation, and knowingly rented the room anyway.

It also claims the family ended up taking the bugs home with them, leading to an infestation of their own.

The incident caused physical and psychological injuries, medical expenses, pain and suffering and loss of wages, the suit alleges. It also caused the family to spend “unnecessary time and expenses” in attempts to get rid of the bugs in their home.

The suit asks for more than $50,000 in damages.

via Family Sues Holiday Inn Over Bed Bug Infestation – cbs2chicago.com.Similar Posts:

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The Chicago news media is all aflutter with the story of a Cincinnati woman who encountered bed bugs at an Arlington Heights, Illinois Sheraton.

The local health department says it’s the second complaint they’ve had this year (not sure if that’s at the Sheraton or in all of Arlington Heights). Ten rooms at this hotel are now undergoing treatment for bed bugs.

No one should have to put up with bed bugs in a hotel. On the other hand, remember that bed bugs can happen anywhere. The victim in this case comes from a city — Cincinnati — where one in six people claimed to have had bed bugs on a recent survey.

Finally, the Fox reporter’s advice to vacuum your suitcase and wash all your clothing after encountering bed bugs in a hotel is not enough. See this FAQ if you think you’ve been exposed to bed bugs, and if you haven’t, this one will tell you how to detect bed bugs in a hotel room before you spend the night.

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The State of Illinois is beginning to recognize the severity of its bed bug problem. It issued a press release Tuesday which noted that

“The Illinois Department of Public Health is seeing an increase in the number of calls from the public and from local health departments about bed bug infestations,” said Dr. Damon T. Arnold, state public health director. “To help reduce this problem, I encourage everyone to learn the signs of bed bug infestations, how the bugs spread, what you can do to prevent getting them and what to do if you find bed bugs.”

And the Illinois State Department of Public Health website now contains information on bed bug prevention and control.

As is often the case, I am not 100% thrilled with everything here (for example, only reddish-brown 1/4″ adults and not translucent 1/32“ nymphs are mentioned in the section on what bed bugs look like).

However, I am glad to see Illinois Public Health providing bed bug information on their website and specifically making this invitation to the public on it:

For more information, contact the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health, 525 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, IL 62761, 217-782-5830, TTY (hearing-impaired use only) 800-547-0466.

I am glad Illinois recognizes the health significance of this pest. As anyone who has had bed bugs will tell you: though not yet known to transmit disease, bed bugs most certainly are a health problem.

And I am glad they want to hear from people who need more information about bed bugs. I hope some of you will take them up on that! And I hope Illinois will take further steps to combat bed bugs and educate people about them.

The Chicago Tribune ran two stories on bed bugs yesterday. ”Bed Bugs and Beyond Disgusting“ covered the spread of bed bugs in the City, and notes that bed bugs are prompting some changes in Chicago. Much more help is needed.

Two tidbits:

“Five years ago, it wasn’t an issue,” said Arturo DelAngel, who works the complaint hot line at the Metropolitan Tenants Organization. “Now it’s bedbugs all the time, every day.”

and:

Prompted by an outcry from angry, itchy citizens, city officials next month will train 45 building inspectors to spot the critters. A coalition that includes the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, the Safer Pest Control Project and Ald. Joe Moore’s (49th) office is lobbying for a coordinated response that would educate school nurses, establish citywide tracking and launch an aggressive public-awareness campaign.

While training inspectors to recognize bed bugs is not nearly enough of an action plan, it is a start, and we applaud the City of Chicago taking steps to fight bed bugs.

The second, related story in the Trib advised readers on what to do if they have bed bugs. The answer?

What to if you have an infestation:

• Call your landlord
• Call 311, make sure you get a “reference number” so you can track the disposition
• Call your alderman’s office
• Talk to your neighbors
• Hire a qualified exterminator

And among the ”additional resources“ suggested (The Metropolitan Tenants Organization also prominent), the article pointed readers to:

Chicago vs. Bedbugs, a community organizing group: chicagovsbedbugs.org

We congratulate our friend Jessica Kevan, Founder of Chicago vs. Bed Bugs, on the good press!Similar Posts:

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On January 20, 1909, fifty working men perished, after the structure they were living on caught fire. The “crib” was a wood-and-brick structure the men lived on for weeks at a time while building a brick-lined tunnel under the lake. They were paid $1-$2 a week and were mostly Irish immigrants.

Historians think the fire was caused when one of the men used gasoline to “ward off” (probably more likely to treat a case of) bed bugs.

The Southtown Star reports on a recent event held by the Mount Greenwood Cemetary and the Ridge Historical Society, marking the 100th Anniversary of this tragedy.

More than 50 men perished in a mysterious 1909 fire that swept through a water-intake crib a mile off the shores of Lake Michigan near 71st Street. The men were living and working on the lake to build a tunnel under Lake Michigan.

The tunnel would supply Chicago’s growing South Side with fresh drinking water.

While the cause of the Jan. 20, 1909, fire remains one of Chicago’s great unsolved mysteries – a janitor was rumored to have sprinkled gasoline to ward off bed bugs – the fire also represents a chapter of city history largely unknown.

We will never know for sure that bed bugs were behind these deaths, but we do know that people have died — or come close to it — trying to self-treat for bed bugs.

This story from 1909 reminds us of a time when everyone knew what bed bugs were, and they were nearly impossible to kill.

While many of us have more options today, others of us still feel as desperate.Similar Posts:

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An excellent interview with a Chicago pest control firm about their bed bug work, and the rapid spread of bed bugs.

Jessica of Chicago vs. Bed Bugs asks brilliant questions and Smithereen provides some very insightful answers.

I strongly encourage you to check it out!

Smithereen Pest Control’s website
Bedbugger Forum posts referencing Smithereen Pest ControlSimilar Posts:

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This in a new article from WLWT NBC 5 in Cincinnati:

Dr. Camille Jones, assistant health commissioner for the Cincinnati Health Department, said the city’s bedbugs have gained fame not because its problem is worse than other cities, but because local officials have more aggressively tackled the problem.

“We’re trying to get ahead of it, and we’re also the only city that has baseline data on about the prevalence of the problem,” Jones said.

In other words, cities like New York and Chicago look like they have less of a bed bug problem than Cincinnati, because they have not even attempted to come up with statistics on the scope of the problem.

I personally find it amusing when the news media outside Cincinnati talk about the rise of bed bugs in that city, instead of considering their own bed bug problems which are receiving (in most cases) less attention from the local government or health department.

Case in point? Articles like this recent one from Los Angeles, which appeared in various iterations in Australia and Connecticut — a country and a state with big bed bug problems, at least in some of their cities.

On the positive side, articles such as this raise awareness of bed bugs as a problem. They introduce the idea that one in six people in a city could have encountered bed bugs in a short span of time. Thanks for driving that idea home, Cincinnati!

And they hopefully also bring a lot of people to look at the bed bug activist site New York vs. Bed Bugs. Even if they sadly missed Renee’s point (and misquoted her to boot), publicity for the issue and the organization is still good.

(Still, “a clean house”? Seriously? Are we still there? I thought we had moved past the idea that there might be a correlation between bed bugs and housekeeping.)

Anyway, isn’t it silly to talk about bed bugs “over there in Cincinnati,” when you haven’t even turned your mattress over for a look?

But even if readers think, “Ewww, Cincinnati!” they’re also probably thinking, “Oh, if Cincinnati, then maybe here, too.”

And when it comes to agitating for change, imagination is key.

Until everyone thinks, “Bed bugs could (will) happen to me, too,” there will still be those who laugh at the idea of bed bug task forces, or bed bug legislation.Similar Posts:

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Well, perhaps that’s not fair. I am sure there are loads of reasons why bed bugs are spreading around Chicago. The lack of assistance from city agencies is only one contributing factor.

Jessica of Chicago vs. Bed Bugs has a disturbing post today about what happens when you call 311 to report bed bugs in the Windy City.

Alas, she finds that you get met with confusion (the person taking the call has never heard of bed bugs) and a suggestion to call the health department.

And then the health department sends you back to 311.

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

If post-Christmas sales are not your cup of tea, you could play “Report the Bed Bugs” all day, in Chicago.

But you might die of boredom, or frustration.

Instead, you might consider why the City of Chicago spent time and money making this website, when its own health department staff tell callers with bed bugs to set off bug bombs and “wash their sheets more often.”

And perhaps once the Chicago Department of Public Health educates its staff about bed bugs and how to deal with them, they can talk to the 311 folks — Chicago Information, you know — about reading the city’s information website.

Read, and try not to weep.Similar Posts:

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If you’re in Chicago, ally yourself at once with Chicago vs. Bed Bugs.

Its founder, Jessica Kevan, is working from the premise that we have to do something about the spread of bed bugs.

I will quote liberally from the group’s About page:

Our Mission (Phase One):

• We endeavor to disseminate good information to and engage Chicago tenants in conversation so that they are aware of their rights and responsibilities because we want them to protect themselves, their possessions, their neighbors, and their landlords.
• We endeavor to disseminate good information to and engage Chicago landlords and property management companies in conversation so that they are aware of their rights and responsibilities because we want them to protect themselves, their investments, and their tenants.
• We endeavor to disseminate good information about pest management protocol to and engage Chicago Pest Control Operators in conversation so that they can share information with us about procedures, studies, and policies because we want our PCOs to succeed and generate earnings.
• We endeavor to disseminate good information to and engage Chicago businesses–particularly hotels– in conversation because we want them to continue to generate revenue for our city.
• We endeavor to contact and engage our city officials– our aldermen, our representatives, our congressmen– and our city departments in conversation because we need them to help us advocate good bed bug policy before Chicago’s bed bug infestations reach epidemic levels.
• We endeavor to contact and engage our Chicago resources– entomologists, PCOs, and media– in conversation so that they can help us disseminate good information to the public because, frankly, we are all in this together.

What we hold to be true:

1. Evidence indicates that Chicago bed bug infestations are on the rise.
2. Bed bug infestations create serious quality of life concerns for Chicago residents and serious economic concerns for Chicago residents and Chicago businesses.
3. Knowledge and enforcement of good protocol is the key to preventing and/or controlling bed bug infestations.
4. No person can truly be held responsible for a bed bug infestation.  Bed bugs are like colds: you catch them.
5. No group of people is responsible for the re-emergence of bed bugs.
6. We are all in this together.

Bravo!

As one of the co-founders and members of New York vs. Bed Bugs, I could not be happier to see this idea of bed bug activism catching on.

If you live in the City of Broad Shoulders, please get involved!  If you don’t, change may not come.

If you don’t, stop by and give the group some support.

If you’re in New York, we need you over here too.

We are all in this together.Similar Posts:

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