I was highly perplexed to watch this two-day report from CBS 21 News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Yesterday, Ewa Roman reported on a “Bug Infested Building” in a boardinghouse over the Tara Station bar on 4th St. in Harrisburg, near the Pennsylvania State Capital building:

Bugs on the ceilings and walls. Insects are taking over the building above the Tara Station Bar on 4th Street in Harrisburg.

I was very troubled to discover that while the photo accompanying the article and video clearly shows a bed bug, and the video itself shows clear footage of bed bugs crawling on walls, the reporter repeatedly refers only to “bugs” and “bug infestation:”

But one man did show us bug bite marks on his arms and neck. He even had some bugs on his sweatshirt.

What kind of bug might be biting this man? Hmmm.

There are also fairly obvious shots of extensive fecal spotting in the area where bed bugs are crawling on the walls and ceiling. And yet “bugs” are mentioned six times in the text of the article; bed bugs: not once.

Here, you can watch video of the episode from Monday: “Bug Infested Building.” (I did not embed the video because it is set to automatically play, which can be quite annoying for people who land on the website.)

And then, Tuesday, the same news station apparently caught up with Walley Mowi, the landlord, to ask why tenants were living under these conditions. He claims that tenants are responsible for the infestation because they have messy and cluttered rooms; in fact, bed bugs are not bred of clutter, or attracted to old food, vomit, or dirt.

Any one person could have brought them into the building, and they could even have walked over from an adjoining building. The hotel offices and the pub downstairs should be carefully inspected as they could also be affected.

Remarkably, once more, the reporter (this time Ben Russell) again makes no mention of bed bugs. Just “bugs” (which are mentioned seven times).

You can watch Tuesday’s update “Bug Infested Building: ‘It’s not my fault’” here. As with the previous story, this reel contains bed bug footage, mention of bug bites, and this time, of dried blood stains on a pillow.

I am dismayed that these reporters are either unaware that bed bugs exist, or are avoiding mentioning them for some bizarre reason. I do not think this is responsible journalism.

Just yesterday I reported how health officials in both Abilene, Texas and Davenport, Iowa believed their cities currently had no bed bug problems, because they were receiving no reports of them. My response: if you live there, tell the health department you have bed bugs.

The people of Harrisburg need to know about bed bugs and how prevalent they are. The bed bugs in this boardinghouse have (according to the news report) been a problem for over a year. And this is not the only incidence of bed bugs in Harrisburg.

If we do not all admit bed bugs are a problem, where we all live, then we will not take action to halt their spread.

If you pretend bed bugs are not there, they will not go away. Similar Posts:

• Video of bed bugs including nymphs walking and feeding on humans
• More on bed bugs in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: again with the HAZMAT showers?!?
• North Carolina shelter with bed bugs: outlook grim
• Woman says she suffered bed bug bites at Bally’s in Atlantic City
• New York City Housing Authority: “bed bugs = emergency” + “wait a month” do not compute

It’s always good when journalists and others in the media tell their own bed bug stories.

As far as raising public awareness about how bed bugs can (and will) infest anyone’s home, having a journalist or writer tell their bed bug story in the news media is almost as good as having a friend or relative tell you they had the problem. Here’s a person who seems to have it together: decent career, nice home (we imagine), he doesn’t look too sloppy in the mugshot next to his byline.

The point is driven home: this can happen to everyone.

Unfortunately, it seems to take a lot of this in order to educate the public about bed bugs. We’re getting there, but slowly. So I am always grateful to see first-person accounts of bed bugs in the print media, on TV, and on non-bed bug blogs.

And today, Michael Hann writes in the Guardian about his family’s bed bug problems.

I can’t decide where, in our battle with the bedbugs, we reached the nadir. Was it when my son’s reception class teacher called my wife to express her concern about the number of bites on his arms, body and face? “He says they’re … bedbug bites,” she said, disbelievingly. “That’s right,” my wife replied. “We’ve got an infestation that we’re being treated for.” “Oh, I understand – I’ve come across bedbugs, when I’ve been travelling in Africa.” The words “but not when I’ve been teaching in north London” went unspoken.

And there, my friends, we see the need for still more public awareness about bed bugs: the teacher was shocked a kid in her classroom had bed bugs.

The article goes through the various experiences the family goes through, including treatment, and undergoing a post-treatment deep clean, only to find bed bugs harboring happily in a bed frame.

The article includes quotations from Bedbugger forum participant David Cain, of Bed Bugs Limited in the UK. David Cain’s suggestion to avoid sitting on public transportation is included as is the advice to the family from an unnamed woman who performed a deep clean after treatment:

… a woman who advised us that, in addition to never sitting down on public transport, we should always remove our clothes before entering a bedroom.

Now, that’s caution.

One of the tips at the end under “How to spot an infestation” intrigued me:

Look for unexplained rashes, although one in 10 people doesn’t respond to bites. If you react badly, use antihistamines.

Jerome Goddard says as many as 70% of folks don’t react to bed bug bites. I am interested in the sources of either of these figures.

I know you’ll want to read the rest of Hann’s story here.Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs in the media: David Cain on British radio, Dr. Susan Jones in the Plain Dealer
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• Halifax tenants dealing with with bed bugs and unsympathetic health department

Note to readers: a letter to the editor from journalist Adam Voiland, a staff Science and Medicine reporter at U.S. News and World Report, who did a major story for that magazine on bed bugs last year, is posted in its entirety below.

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,
AdamSimilar Posts:

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If the Thai train infested with bed bugs does not have you thoroughly skeeved, Joe Fiorito has a new article today in the Toronto Star on 55 Bleecker, a Toronto Community Housing (public housing) building in Toronto, where tenants have meetings about bed bugs at 2 a.m. because they’re all up anyway.

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!Similar Posts:

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Apparently, many journalists still don’t bother to find out what bed bugs look like!

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.Similar Posts:

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Nicholas Brown: The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 7 – Living on The Huffington Post

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.Similar Posts:

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After traveling to 71 countries and staying in hundreds of hotels, NY1 journalist Valerie D’Elia encountered bed bugs in a hotel. Luckily, she did not appear to take them home with her.

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.Similar Posts:

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• LEX18 – Lexington, KY: Health Department Encourages Learning About Bed Bugs
  “The Kentucky Department for Public Health is encouraging people to learn more about bed bugs, the small, brownish insects that feed on the blood of animals.” Paradoxically, this article contains almost no content or explanation of how they’ll do that.
  (tags: bedbugs kentucky lexington KY spread education healthdept kentuckypublichealthdepartment)
• TheStar.com:`Explosive’ problem bugs public housing
  “But not all tenants are capable of looking after themselves. Some people are reclusive; some are hoarders; some are not rational; some have disabilities; and not everyone has friends or family.” Another bed bugs in Canada story from Joe Fiorito.
  (tags: bedbugs publichousing toronto yonge canada ontario homeless elderly mentallyill physicallychallenged prep preparation treatment JoeFiorito)
• TheStar.com | News | Bedbugs bedevil seniors in Toronto Housing apartment building
  “A double-barrelled problem: the stigma of the bugs, and the fear of retaliation by the landlord. That’s common in social housing.” Joe Fiorito is apparently on the Star’s unofficial bed bug beat. Go Joe!
  (tags: JoeFiorito bedbugs canada ontario torontocommunityhousing toronto elderly seniors tenants spread landlords 2007 oct2007)
• TheStar.com: Bedbugs a building’s bad dream
  “We’ve never had this before. I wish the public would know this. We aren’t here by choice. We were hardworking people. Many of us are women whose husbands have died. We are teachers, counsellors; responsible people.” Another Joe Fiorito article.
  (tags: JoeFiorito bedbugs toronto ontario canada thestar news oct2007 2007 elderly seniors treatment costs)

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