Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com » NJ http://bedbugger.com bed bug news, information, activism, and support Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:15:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 en Bed bugs in North Jersey http://bedbugger.com/2008/02/05/bed-bugs-in-north-jersey/ http://bedbugger.com/2008/02/05/bed-bugs-in-north-jersey/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:35:08 +0000 nobugsonme http://bedbugger.com/2008/02/05/bed-bugs-in-north-jersey/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Bed bugs in North Jersey", url: "http://bedbugger.com/2008/02/05/bed-bugs-in-north-jersey/" });]]> Marsha Stoltz provided a typical regional bed bug news story in The Record Sunday:

Creepy crawly creatures have always been a predictable, if dreaded, part of multi-housing life because of the ease with which they move from unit to unit along shared pipes, wires and cable lines.

Landlords and buildings managers typically address these concerns with monthly inspections and treatments while urging tenants to adopt neater lifestyles and garbage disposal methods.

Now, say area pest control companies, bedbugs have replaced cockroaches and mice at the top of the creature list, and none of these treatments help.

“In New Jersey we’re seeing bedbugs in epidemic proportions,” says Tony Yochum, commercial sales manager for Viking Pest Control with offices in Saddle Brook and throughout northern New Jersey. “They are the cockroach of the new millennium.”

It seems obvious to us Bedbuggers that the problem is spreading rapidly and also that it can be difficult to get rid of bed bugs. But sometimes news articles are more reserved about saying so outright. Sometimes they even seem to state the opposite.

They also often do not mention how easily bed bugs can be transported from place to place:

“You can pick them up at college, a movie theater, in furniture,” [Abarb Pest Service’s George] Forst said. “They spread like wildfire.”

For the general public, it is helpful to consider that bed bugs can come from a wide variety of sources, and travel in all directions.

That kind of talk can make some people paranoid, of course. It is not true that you will encounter bed bugs everywhere you go, nor is it true–having had bed bugs–that you will likely reinfest yourself again and again from random locations once your bed bugs are gone.

It is worth taking precautions against spreading them if you have them, and it’s worth being alert wherever you go, since picking up bed bugs is always a possibility.

Jim McCale, owner of J.P. McCale Pest Management in Boonton is quoted as saying

We also recommend inspecting the units above, below and diagonal to the infected unit, but this can be hard. Residents don’t want other tenants to know.

What I hear from Bedbugger readers is most often that the landlord does not want to inspect all adjacent units (because, after all, they may then have to pay to treat them). Another common complaint is that the landlord will inspect, but some tenants will refuse either inspection or treatment.

We almost never hear of tenants who themselves do not want the landlord to have neighbors’ units inspected. (And anyway, if all adjacent units are being inspected, why would the other tenants need to know which tenant made the original complaint, if the landlord is the one calling for inspections?)

It is true, however, that our readers are self-selecting–they’re the information-seekers and proactive ones. Often this comes of necessity–when people have a bad allergic response to bed bugs, they not only come looking for solutions, they also are willing to do almost anything to get rid of the problem. So I guess many of us Bedbuggers might not be typical clients.

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]]> http://bedbugger.com/2008/02/05/bed-bugs-in-north-jersey/feed/ Allegations of bed bugs affect tourism, according to travel agent http://bedbugger.com/2007/12/11/links-for-2007-12-12/ http://bedbugger.com/2007/12/11/links-for-2007-12-12/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:24:35 +0000 Nobugsonme http://bedbugger.com/2007/12/11/links-for-2007-12-12/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Allegations of bed bugs affect tourism, according to travel agent", url: "http://bedbugger.com/2007/12/11/links-for-2007-12-12/" });]]>
  • Tropicana struggles to rebuild public image (note: allegations of bed bugs = bad for business)

    Travel agent elucidates how bed bugs are bad for hotel business: “One of my customers requested Tropicana. Knowing what I knew, I felt I must tell them. God forbid if they got there and there were bedbugs,” (Sis Butler, sales rep., Suncoast Tours).

    (tags: badforbusiness bedbugs travel tourism casino atlanticcity newjersey nj tropicana dec2007 2007 hotels)

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    ]]>     http://bedbugger.com/2007/12/11/links-for-2007-12-12/feed/     Bed bugs in homeless shelters, casinos, hotels, apartments: Waynesboro, Atlantic City, Greenpoint, Toronto http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/23/links-for-2007-11-24/ http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/23/links-for-2007-11-24/#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2007 01:24:25 +0000 Nobugsonme http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/23/links-for-2007-11-24/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Bed bugs in homeless shelters, casinos, hotels, apartments: Waynesboro, Atlantic City, Greenpoint, Toronto", url: "http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/23/links-for-2007-11-24/" });]]>
  • Clip of the Day:

    TheStar.com | Public Health must declare bedbug war

    “The problem is spreading like flames all over town. Where are the people who will deal with this problem as if they were firefighters in front of a burning building?”

    Bedbuggers, Are you all reading Joe Fiorito’s articles in the Star? You really must. He has been doing the most amazing series of articles on people suffering from bed bugs in Toronto. Article after article as documented in recent news posts here.
    I wrote him a fan letter.

  • If you’re a tenant of Pistilli Realty’s beleaguered Astral apartments, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, you can join this new MySpace group and talk to your neighbors.
  • “A recent problem was an infestation of bedbugs, which Freeman said was remedied with donations of new beds and bedding.” This kind of lacadaisical reporting sends the wrong idea. New beds and bedding did not eliminate bed bugs from a homeless shelter.
  • “Now Tropicana will have to ‘get bedbugs headlines out of people’s minds,’ (William J. ) Yung (III) said.”
    There’s one way to get them out of our heads: make sure they’re not in any of the beds!
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    ]]>     http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/23/links-for-2007-11-24/feed/     Bed bugs in casino and senior apartments in New Jersey, Binghamton University (again) and another dust mite photo in the news http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/22/links-for-2007-11-23/ http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/22/links-for-2007-11-23/#comments Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:26:17 +0000 Nobugsonme http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/22/links-for-2007-11-23/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Bed bugs in casino and senior apartments in New Jersey, Binghamton University (again) and another dust mite photo in the news", url: "http://bedbugger.com/2007/11/22/links-for-2007-11-23/" });]]>
  • Wesleyan Arms, a 60-unit senior apartment complex in Red Bank, NJ, has bed bugs. Monmouth County Health Officer Sidney B. Johnson said “bedbugs are not a health issue because they do not transmit disease but that the insects do qualify as pests.”
  • People are complaining about all kinds of alleged problems at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Among them? Three hotel guests who filed complaints “were irate because their rooms were infested with bedbugs.”
  • Look at the title. Look at the photo. Look at the title. Look at the photo. Say it with me, now: bed bugs. Are. Not. Dust. Mites. Come on Aotearoa / New Zealand! Everyone has dust mites, but bed bugs are another matter.
  • Bed bugs are “not necessarily a widespread problem, just an increasing trend,” Diane O’Hora, supervising public health educator for Broome County, NY. A trend, like hobo bags, and that racoon eyeliner business, and palazzo pants. Yay! We’re trendy!
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