Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com » uganda

FAQ: I am not in the US. Can you tell me where to buy XL ziplocs, or what mattress covers are called in my country?

nobugsonme — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:38:17 +0000

Sometimes I get messages commenting on the Nortamericano-bias, USA-bias, or even NYC-bias of the site.
Others assume Bedbugger.com was made for NYC Bedbuggers (not so!)

Although people often think this to be the case, this site was never intended to be for residents of the US, but rather, for everyone with bed bugs, everywhere. Although I (Nobugsonme) lived for many years abroad, I am in NYC, I am best able to provide information on fighting bed bugs here, and news on what’s going on.

However, I’d love to make the site more helpful for Bedbuggers everywhere, as I know you would too. This is where you come in. Tell us everything you can to make this site relevant to your country-people. Use the comment function and point us to useful information and useful stuff.

I get google alerts for all bed bug-related stories on the ‘net. But these are weighted towards US stories in particular. If you see bed bug news covered on a website (especially a newspaper or television website in your country), please drop me an email and let me know (nobugsonme at yahoo dot com).

If you see suggestions on the FAQs for treatment methods which you feel do not apply in your country, or suggestions of products not available to you, or if the product has a different name or is sold by a particular company, please post a comment directly on the relevant FAQ telling us. We’d be happy to give people information specific to the UK, Canada, Australia, or anywhere else, but first we need the information.

(This request comes with the usual disclaimer that people who are themselves selling things should advertise on the site rather than posting phony ads in the form of “happy customer testimonials”: you know who you are.)

A few of the FAQs may be closed to comments, usually because people were using them to post comments about other issues besides the information in the FAQs. If you find this to be the case, you can email me at nobugsonme at yahoo dot com, and I will re-open them. It’s best to post your corrections to the FAQs, rather than emailing them to me, since I get a lot of email every day and don’t have time to copy and paste lots of addenda to the FAQs. For the same reasons, it’s also best not to post information in the comments on this FAQ (below) which would be better placed on the FAQ about protecting your bed, travel, etc.

Thank you for making the site a better resource for Bedbuggers everywhere!

One good thing about bed bugs

bugzinthehood — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:32:27 +0000

As of November 8, 2006, the Ugandan Army will no longer accept prospective soldiers who have jiggers, i.e. bed bugs. So those of you who are suffering from infestations, cheer up, there probably won’t be a recruiter knocking on your door telling you your next assignment is Kampala.

The bed bug droppings hit the fan

nobugsonme — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 05:59:24 +0000

Sorry to get graphic on you folks, but the news round-up for today is really something.

The San Jose Mercury-News reports that Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live is suing because she moved into a $13,500 a month SOHO loft rental that was infested with bed bugs.

The couple had signed a $13,500-a-month lease, paying two months rent and a month’s security as well as a month’s rent as a broker’s commission, say papers filed Wednesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court.

Almost as bad as the bedbugs, court papers say, was that the couple were unable to flee the infestation conveniently because for at least six of their first 11 days in the building the elevator was out of order.

After Rudolph and Anderson complained, an exterminator showed up on Oct. 17 and advised them to leave, at least for a few weeks, for the sake of their year-old baby. They left and never returned, said their lawyer Kenneth J. Glassman.

The lawsuit names Halstead Property LLC, the broker, and Francis Feeney, the owner of the apartment, as defendants. It seeks a total of $450,500 in compensatory and punitive damages, repayment of rent and broker’s fees and legal fees.

According to the Mercury-News, Halstead had no comment, and Feeney has an unlisted number.

My response: I firmly believe there is no bad bed bug news. As much as I hate to hear that anyone has bed bugs, I am pleased to see the news being reported about bedbugs among high-profile celebs such as Rudolph and partner (Boogie Nights director Paul Anderson), because normally people do not talk about having bed bugs. Seeing celebrities have the problem makes it seem less shameful. Of course, this would never make the news if there were no lawsuit. For every court case, I am sure there are thousands of quiet sufferers–famous ones, as well as us normal folks. People need to know that this is a widespread problem, affecting rich and poor alike.
The only thing that gets me mad is when inaccurate information is disseminated by the press, which it wasn’t here. Small annoyance: this is in the Gossip section of the paper (as was, you recall, the piece on Ralph Lauren’s design offices being infested in September). Given the enormous bed bug epidemic, and the press on it, why are celebrity bed bug cases nothing but “gossip”?

Also: a brief piece from New Vision, a Ugandan news site reports that recent DDT spraying of mosquitoes on indoor walls has had a positive effect on bedbugs:

The district director of health services, Dr. Patrick Tusiime, said the recent indoor residual spraying against mosquitoes had also helped to eradicate fleas, bedbugs and cockroaches.

He said last Saturday that people were having sound sleep due to the extermination of the blood sucking vermins.

I have no knowledge of the reliability of the source, or the site, but it is notable, nonetheless.

Also: file this under “No! No! No!” but this family in Eastbourne, England is thinking of moving into their car to escape their infested home. People, people, how many times do we have to say this? Bed bugs are not in your bed, they’re near where you spend lots of time. You can sleep in the car, sit in a barn, or prop yourself in front of a computer in your office at work, and you can have bed bugs there. If you change where you sleep, you can bet some of them hitched a ride.

Unfortunately for this family, who are tenants of the Eastbourne Council (local government), the council is not required to treat its tenants’ homes for bed bugs; many are on limited incomes, and paying for pest control is a hardship. This is only going to mean some people do not treat it properly and spread the problem further.

”We’ve got a private firm in and although we can’t afford it, we had to do something because we’re at the end of our tether.
”They’ve come around twice and treated the whole of the upstairs but neither treatment has touched them and we are still over-run.
”It has now become so bad that we are seriously considering leaving the house and sleeping in our car.”
Bed bugs are not on a list of pests and infestations which the borough council are legally obliged to remove for free.
Mr Carter added, ”I don’t think that it is right to deny us help when we have five children between four and 11 years old.
”We have already had to get rid of all our bedroom furniture as it was riddled with the bugs.
”We can’t even get new furniture until the house is totally clear and even then we can’t afford it at present.”
An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, bed bugs are not one of the pests which we are legally obliged to deal with.
“We would deal with an infestations of rats, mice, wasps and fleas for a fee and offer a wide range of advice on other pests.
“Further details can be found on our website or by calling the environmental health department.”

Shame on Eastbourne Council! They will eventually find out that this pest spreads quickly, especially when tenants throw away furniture, as these folks did. Maybe when every unit becomes uninhabitable, they’ll reconsider.

Parakeets, the fourth official blogger in the team here at Bedbugger, blogging from heavilty-infested Massachusetts (joining me in NYC, Jessinchicago in, well, Chicago, and Deblynn in Long Island).