Full disclosure: I ask Adam’s indulgence as I made a few very minor alterations. I added hotlinks to our coverage of the Fox News story that Adam referenced, and to my post which responded to Adam’s article. I added paragraph breaks to facilitate ease-of-reading (sorry, Adam, to make you contend with editors even in your off-time!) I also changed one word: reference to LtDan’s “posts” in the third paragraph, second sentence, was changed to “comments,” for greater clarity, since Dan’s status here on the Bedbugger blog is as a commenter. It’s a blog thing: blog authors are said to write “posts,” whereas everyone else leaves “comments.” And I hope you all will: comment, I mean.

Thanks for your letter, Adam!

– nobugs

———————————————————————————————————————-

Nobugs,

I checked Bedbugger.com tonight to see if you had picked up the story about Fox News and bedbugs. In doing that I happened to run across your post titled “Bed bugs in almost all 58 states” that was published on June 4, 2007. It’s an interesting post, and I found the stream of comments from Lt. Dan in response particularly fascinating to read. The discussion about immigrants and bedbugs cuts to the heart of one of the dilemmas I faced in covering the bedbug story–which has received a fair amount of criticism on this blog from some of its readers–for U.S. News & World Report. [Editor’s note: Adam’s original U.S. News and World Report story on bed bugs is here, and our commentary on it is here.]

One of the undercurrents that came up numerous times in the various interviews I conducted for the bedbug story was this issue of immigration. Under their breath or off the record a number of PCOs and scientists mentioned to me that bedbug infestations tended to predominate in areas with high numbers of immigrants. I was told by some PCOs, for example, that different cultural groups had different reactions to bedbugs, different levels of experience with them, and, ultimately, different levels of concern about them. Although most of the comments were not overtly racist, they were the sort that might easily by construed to be had I put them in the public sphere. I chose not to include those quotes. And I chose not to address the immigration issue in my story. I knew that doing so would simply insert a level viscousness into the discourse that was neither warranted nor helpful. That may or may not have been a wise journalistic decision, but it is certainly the sort of choice that journalists make all the time in crafting their stories.

Meanwhile, Lt. Dan had called me numerous times full of theories on all things bedbugs related that seemed out of touch with reality at best and hysterical at worst. Some of his rhetoric then–same as you see in his comments on this blog–suggested he was prepared to start scapegoating and isolating any perceived source of bedbug contamination, be they immigrants or residents of New York City, in his personal war against bedbugs. I found this unsettling as history is full of examples for which having a particular disease or carrying a particular pest has been used as justification for demonizing social groups that, for one reason or another, were undesirable to society at large. This concerned me as my other reporting suggested he may not be the only one drawing this short-sighted conclusion. That concern about scapegoating perceived carriers of bedbugs is part of the reason that I assumed the tone that I did. Remember, that bedbugs do not kill or even seriously injure people physically.

Yes, (as I said before in my article and say again now) bedbugs are a problem. Yes, we ought to make a concerted effort as both individuals and as a society to control the spread of such a pest. And, yes, we should take seriously the stress and mental health problems they can spark for people who get them. However, we must also be wise in the tone and tenor of our response to these bugs. Getting hysterical or hyping this issue in ways that are not thoughtful or constructive has real consequences. I don’t believe that we should tolerate bigotry or irrational scapegoating in this country for any reason–including bedbugs. Was that part of my calculus in the tone I chose for my bedbug story? Definitely. Will taking a measured and thoughtful tone–as I would generally commend the author of this blog for doing–in our response hamper our country’s ability to stop the spread of bedbugs? Perhaps. That, however, is a risk I’m personally willing to take. And I can guarantee you if (or perhaps when?) I get bedbugs myself that’s one opinion of mine that’s not going to change.

Take Care,
Adam

• Too busy to remember to buy a cake?
• Feedback on new look?
• bed bug news for 2007-11-13
• A few minor tweaks to the site

ShareThis

2 a.m.!

That’s just the beginning.

“There was a fire in the building in November, on the fourth floor. One man was killed. Nobody knew him; we’re still suffering from the stress of that … the bugs were totally blown out of that unit.”

Blown out?

“People were coming to me in tears, in total frustration, from bugs on the fifth floor, and more on the third floor; they were falling from the ceiling.” Bedbugs fleeing fire.

As if the horror of a fire in the building and a neighbor losing his life were not enough. Imagine bed bugs raining down from your ceiling.

Fiorito’s assessment of the public housing situation in Toronto vis a vis bed bugs?

Funny, TCHC [Toronto Community Housing Corporation] staff told me last year there might be three or four of their buildings with bedbug problems. I now believe there might be three or four without bedbug problems.

Toronto now has a Bed Bug Action Committee, so change is hopefully on its way. As I said before, I have no doubt Fiorito’s excellent series of articles on bed bugs in Toronto has a lot to do with that. Rock on, Joe!

• bed bug news for 2007-11-11: Lexington, KY and Toronto, ON
• Reg Ayre of Toronto Public Health: bed bugs a “health concern,” not a “health hazard”
• Toronto Community Housing does good; Orlando, Florida tenants and Billings, Montana shelter guest demonstrate why more bed bug education is needed
• Bed bugs not so nice either

ShareThis

As of writing (4 pm EST on 3/3/2008), this article from This is Leicestershire, which is obviously about bed bugs, contains a massive photo of a dust mite.

No wonder the article’s commenters think bed bugs are not such a big deal.

• Bed bugs. Are. Not. Dust Mites.
• bed bugs, news at 11
• Arctic Monkeys bitten by bed bugs
• Bed bugs also causing havoc in England & Northern Ireland: university residence, hospital staff residence, possibly a school, infested

ShareThis

The same day that we ask, with Rene Laraine, what might be causing his bed bugs to persist despite nine bed bug treatments by licensed PCOs, Nicholas Brown brings to mind similar concerns.

Brown, chronicling his bed bug experience on the Huffington Post, is now well past his seventh week. He has had five treatments (so treatment intervals are not the problem in this case). He is planning treatment six, the last one before he moves.

Again, I would bet money on the neighbors as source.

Like many of us, on this blog that was originally dubbed “Your foxhole, in the war against bed bugs” by its avowedly pacifist creator (yes, people, that’s how much I hate bed bugs), Brown mobilizes the war metaphors for his final assault:

Day 52

There comes a time in most insurgencies when you should cut your losses and leave. Maybe the enemy was more persistent than you imagined; maybe he was better at hiding; or maybe the weapons you used against him were inadequate. In any case, no one has ever accused the United States of pulling out of a conflict too early. And while I am all for America, I dont wish to repeat her mistakes.

I have returned from the farm and the squalor that confronts me confirms that the bedbugs are winning in our apartment. Yes, we have inflicted casualties. Yes, we have damaged their infrastructure. But at the end of the day, there are more of them than there are of us and we cannot win their hearts and minds. Moreover, there is great suspicion within the building that our downstairs neighbors are harboring bedbugs. Despite several requests, they have refused sprayings in their apartment. The bugs, we suspect, hide downstairs until the toxins in our place wear off and then return in greater strength. We can only assume they have training camps. We are keeping diplomatic channels open, but are not optimistic about pacifying either our apartment or the one below us.

We are calling in one more spraying, but the backbone has fallen out of our effort and we do not expect success. Our departure wont involve an embassy swamped with desperate refugees, but it will involve the horrid logistics of moving, made all the more awful by the necessity of inspecting and poisoning or freezing every item before it is packed away. Its a depressing thought, but honestly not all that much more work than washing, drying and sealing away all your clothing and papers and other possessions. Now come the slow logistics of apartment hunting, brokers fees, and long Saturdays devoted to subway rides and open houses. We are optimistic though. In the neon-lit consumerism of the new American Christmas, minor commercial miracles happen all the time. Uncle Bob might get some nose trimmers from the Airmall catalog; Delores might tip a busboy; and cousin Herbie may finally give in to those Debeers commercials and propose to that on-again off-again cocktail waitress he has been seeing for years. And maybe, just maybe, we will find our own minor Christmas miracle: a small apartment thats reasonably priced, relatively clean, and blessedly uninfested.

Unfortunately, we’ve heard from readers who moved almost nothing, took extreme precautions, and nevertheless brought bed bugs with them. In some cases, they chose new, equally infested quarters. Maybe they even rented a truck with bed bugs. But in most cases, they probably simply managed to move their bed bug despite precautions.

It’s worth moving during treatment, and treating at the other end. Yes, anonymous poster who raves when we mention pre-emptive treatment, we know “preventive” treatment isn’t supposed to work. But we know too many nice people who felt they had to pay for treatment in their new digs. This isn’t preventive, it’s reactive.

Good luck to Nicholas Brown. Unlike Amanda’s saga on Apartmenttherapy, I do hope we get to hear the end of the story.

• Nicholas Brown’s “The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 6″ sounds pretty familiar
• bed bug news for 2007-11-09
• The Huffington Post on bed bugs
• The Huffington Post: Nicholas Brown’s bed bugs, volumes 3 and 4

ShareThis

Here she tells the story, and asks a few questions of attorney Steven De Castro (who’s been involved with bed bug lawsuits) and local entomologist/ Bedbugger hero Lou Sorkin. She talks about the signs and symptoms of bed bugs, but not really any suggestions about what to do to avoid taking them home.

If you recall, in September 2006, NY1 covered the city council hearing in New York (on bed bugs and the reselling of mattresses). They illustrated the opening with a nice, big photo of a dust mite. The segment below occurred within six months of that incident (I don’t know exactly when, but it was uploaded to YouTube in February). Suffice it to say, they’ve come a long way in those six months.

(I am not sure how we missed this when it aired, but it’s new to us, and maybe to you too!)

If the embedded video won’t work for you, click here.

• Bed bugs. Are. Not. Dust Mites.
• 48th Street between 3rd and Lex, last night
• Arctic Monkeys bitten by bed bugs
• bed bugs, news at 11

ShareThis

• bed bugs in Toronto; Vancouver; Billings, MT,
• bed bug news for 2007-11-09
• Bed bugs in homeless shelters, casinos, hotels, apartments: Waynesboro, Atlantic City, Greenpoint, Toronto
• bed bug news for 2007-11-16

ShareThis