Bed bug specialists David Cain (of Bed-bugs.co.uk and active in our Bedbugger Forums) and Dr. Susan C. Jones (of Ohio State University) have been in the press this week, spreading good information about bed bugs.

David Cain was interviewed by BBC Derby’s Aleena Naylor on her morning show today. The approximately ten-minute interview starts at 1:42:35, so you can scroll through to it once the player loads.

It’s basically “bed bugs for beginners,” covering the basics, including these facts:

• bed bugs are not spread by lack of hygiene,
• they’re visible but you might not see them,
• they bite, but you may not react to bed bug bites,
• bed bug problems “can and should be controlled,” and
• people need to learn to inspect for bed bugs and their signs.

Have a listen before it disappears!

Also, last week, entomologist Dr. Susan C. Jones warned readers of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer about the spread of bed bugs.

Jones’s article focuses on the spread of bed bugs via people traveling and college students returning home.  It gives extensive advice about avoiding bed bugs while traveling, how to search a hotel room for bed bugs, what to do if you spot them in a hotel room, and key treatment advice:

If you suspect an infestation in your home, immediately contact a pest control company with experience in dealing with bed bugs. Don’t wait, because the problem will just get worse. And don’t use bug bombs. They rarely kill bed bugs but instead cause the bugs to scatter into areas you wouldn’t usually find them, such as your bathroom or kitchen.

Dr. Jones also recommends against boric acid, which we know does not work against bed bugs, and stresses that people should have their pest professional inspect a sample to ensure it is a bed bug (bat bugs and other creatures need different or additional kinds of treatment and action).  Dr. Jones also gives this excellent advice:

Always report bed bugs, although it may be difficult to know where to report such infestations. Start with your local health department, and if that’s not the right agency, ask who is responsible.

Not knowing who to report to is confusing and exhausting, readers tell me, but we have seen many instances reported in the media where health departments or other authorities took action and monitored situations, improving and speeding treatment to heavily infested properties.  It certainly cannot hurt, and it can definitely help.

Making these phone calls also reminds health department officials (and others they may pass you on to) that bed bugs are a problem where you live.  Your local officials need to understand this.

Thanks to David and to Dr. Jones for their tireless and valuable work in educating the public about bed bugs, their behavior, and how to spot and react to their presence.  The first battle in the fight against bed bugs is the battle against ignorance.Similar Posts:

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Cambridge (UK) tenant Alison Stephenson claims her property development and management firm Places for People is not concerned about her flat’s bed bug problem.  The tenant is apparently responsible for treatment, and Stephenson seems to be happy to arrange for this. But she says other units are infested also.  And there’s nothing she can do to keep bed bugs coming back to her unit, if other flats are infested.

Cambridge News Online reports that

Ms Stephenson says that despite raising the issue with property management and development company Places for People she hasn’t received a response.

She said call handlers for the firm suggested that if left alone the bugs would go away of their own accord.

She claimed they even hinted she might have caused the outbreak herself.

Two errors there:  first, bed bugs do not go away on their own.

Second, when you assume the first person to complain about or notice bed bugs in their unit is the source of said bed bugs, it shows an ignorance of this pest and how easily it spreads.  The Bed Bug Blame Game is pointless: everyone loses.

Stephenson is getting pest control treatment from Environmental Health — that’s not the issue.

Instead, she reports she’s concerned that the building is not dealing with the spread of bed bugs within the building:

“The call handlers kept saying that it was my problem and that I would have to pay for it, and that’s fine, I am willing to pay for it despite being a single mum, but if all that happens and they just come back then what’s the point?

“I’ve heard from three other people in the block, across three different floors, who also have them and it’s made me so ill I’m not sleeping.

It’s very hard to get rid of bed bugs if all infested units are not detected and simultaneously treated.

Cambridge News online also spoke with the management company:

A spokeswoman for Places for People said: “We are aware that Ms Stephenson has a problem with bedbugs in her home.

“Though this is an issue that individual customers are responsible for, we are happy to provide advice on arranging treatment through the local environmental health department, and to assist in any way we can.

When bed bugs are present, it simply is not sufficient to look at the one unit where a problem has been reported or detected. Building management companies need to help coordinate inspections and treatment within a building. At the very least, adjacent and attached units must be inspected, if not the entire building. Other units may need treatment, especially if what Stephenson reports about her neighbors is true.

If other units are infested and are sending bed bugs over, it is immensely frustrating for tenants whether landlords pay for treatment, or — as in this case — pest control is the tenant’s responsibility. It is not enough to put out the bed bug fire in one unit.

Instead of assuming a tenant’s complaints of bed bugs in their unit is an isolated incident, management companies need to get people who are experienced in searching for bed bugs to do some investigating and actually confirm this is the case.

Consider the alternative: in most cases, if bed bugs in your building become very bad, tenants can eventually move.

Landlords are stuck with an infested building. Property managers would do well to consider this fact and take care of their investment property.

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The Kingston Guardian (UK) reports that A school trip to an outdoor activity center went awry when students encountered bed bugs:

Children from Coombe Junior School had to camp outside while their dormitories were sprayed with pesticide last week, after bed bugs invaded an activity centre.

Year 5 pupils were affected when Hindleap Warren in East Sussex was infested with bed bugs, closing down many of its 80 rooms, after an outbreak six weeks ago.

The father of one Coombe Junior pupil said: “The children are very disappointed because they could only go for a couple of nights.”

But David Nottidge, director of Hindleap, denied poor cleanliness was responsible for the outbreak and said visitors had been warned of the bed bug outbreak before they arrived. He said the local council had also been informed.

A simple warning means little to people who don’t know much about bed bugs.

It would therefore be interesting to know what kind of information was provided about bed bugs — and how to avoid them — for these visiting groups, and for the local council. I truly hope they also took precautions to avoid taking bed bugs home.

The same article notes that students from another school group, Claremont Fan Court School in Esher, returned home from the same center complaining they’d been infected with scabies there; the center denied the presence of the scabies mite.

In my experience, doctors frequently misdiagnose bed bug bites as scabies, and treat for scabies (my own doctor did the same).  Perhaps this was true in the case of these students as well.

See: Night of camping for Coombe pupils after bed bug infestation From Kingston Guardian.Similar Posts:

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Dacorum Borough Council used to provide free treatment for bed bugs to householders who could not afford it.  Alas, no longer.

One local resident, Alex Francis, was concerned:

“If there are people with bed bugs or mites who can’t afford to have them treated privately, will they just be living in those conditions, whereas before they could have them treated?” he said.

Well put.

It is understandable that the council is trying to save money at this time, and since bed bug cases are growing everywhere, the borough’s cost of providing treatment is likely to get bigger and bigger.

The move was included in cuts of £2.8million agreed by the council as part of its budget in February.

And,

Cutting the pest control service will save £84,000.

John Clarke, head of public protection at the council, advised residents with problems to use a private contractor.

This does not help people who cannot afford treatment.

Interestingly, the council will continue to treat for rats:

“From April 1 the council only offers a free rat treatment service for domestic premises, as they are a danger to public health,” he said.

(Emphasis mine.)

While it is true that bed bugs are not currently known to spread disease (as rats most decidedly do), they are nonetheless a public health problem.

I fear that this loss of service will mean many in the borough are forced to live with this problem because they cannot afford proper treatment to get rid of bed bugs.

And here’s a reminder to the people of Hemel Hempstead:  if your neighbors have bed bugs, you have bed bugs.

When it comes to bed bug treatment, it really is best for everyone if no one is left behind.

via Pest control cuts start to bite – Hemelhempstead Today.Similar Posts:

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A BBC news story Friday featured interviews with John Furman of BOOT-A-PEST (a pest control operator also known as KillerQueen in our forums), and Renee Corea of New York vs. Bed Bugs.

The BBC asked KillerQueen about the rise of bed bugs in New York, and asked Renee about the new Bed Bug Advisory Board established by the New York City Council:

The proposals are being welcomed by Renee Corea from campaign group New York Vs Bedbugs.

“Infestations are not being discovered quickly so they are growing. By the time people are discovering them it’s harder to eradicate them.

“Then they are being mismanaged, either by the property owners, by the residents themselves or even the pest management companies,” said Renee.

“If we increase everybody’s knowledge then we can tackle the problem more quickly.”

via BBC – Newsbeat – Health – Bedbug cases on the rise in NY.

My only complaint?

The UK bed bug sufferer in the story is a British tourist who suspects she got bed bugs on a trip to a NYC hotel (certainly a plausible scenario) — which makes it sound like Londoners don’t have their own serious bed bug problems.

Which, of course, they do: the article rightly notes, near the end,

The UK has seen similarly large increases in the number of infestations. London is among the worst affected areas.

The unstated question: “When will London take action on bed bugs?”

I will go ahead and ask it right now.

Congratulations to both John and Renee! Similar Posts:

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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:

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This morning, a bit of history: the Post Office London Directory in two volumes, 1939, discovered at the New York Public Library. (Sorry for the graininess but let’s just say this was an accidental find — the camera phone was the only option.)

Note the advertisement around the edges: We Destroy Rats, Mice, Beetles, Moths, etc. on one side, a prominent picture of a bed bug on others.

The 1939 Post Office London Directory (apparently published by Kelly’s) in two volumes was the 1939 London “phone book.”  It tells us a few things:

• Bed bugs were big business: the company that could afford the most prominent advertising in London was a Bayswater (W1) pest control company.
• Bed bugs were a big problem in 1939: the only picture included in the ad is a really big bed bug.  Not a mouse, a rat, a beetle, a moth: the ad is primarily about bed bugs.
• This also tells us that: bed bugs were visually recognizable to all.

1939 was, of course, before DDT.

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The Fermanagh Herald reports that Erne Hospital in Enniskillen had 28 call-outs from pest control in 2008, including those for bed bugs; facilities in the Western Health and Social Care Trust had 128 pest control call-outs in total.  (A small percentage of these were routine visits.)

A Western Trust spokesperson said,

“Visits are often to deal with one-off sightings of pests.”

I hope “one-off sightings” of bed bugs are not treated as “one-off sightings,” since it is so rare to see even one bed bug, and it may represent the presence of many more.

The spokesperson continued,

The most common types of pests dealt with were mice, rats, fleas, silverfish and bedbugs. Pest control specialists carry out treatments following each visit as appropriate. They also provide specialist advice to the Trust following the contract visits, for example, in relation to minor repairs to the building, reviewing housekeeping/cleaning arrangements and monitoring.

Contractors also had to treat bedbugs at staff accommodation at Altnagelvin Hospital as well as in areas of the Erne Hospital and Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital.

Emphasis mine.

This is not the first report from Northern Ireland hospitals and medical residences. Or from Northern Ireland, where lorry drivers identified the problem as something they were bringing in via ferries from Scotland and the Continent. Similar Posts:

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The Evening Leader reports that Wrexham Council is offering its tenants an inspection to rule out bed bugs.

A FREE inspection and advice service is available from Wrexham Council for residents who may be worried about the possibility their home has bed bugs.

People wanting to make use of the facility should telephone 01978 298989 to arrange for a pest control officer to visit.

Private tenants should report bed bug problems to their landlord. If the landlord is not prepared to carry out the treatment, the tenant should contact the local authority with the landlord’s details.

While it is true that small or moderate infestations might not be easily detected by a human inspector, I certainly appreciate the council’s effort, as it signals a willingness to detect bed bug infestations before the tenants even notice them.

Since there are always some folks who cannot or will not ask for such help, an even better idea would be mandatory inspections of all council flats by a bed bug professional working with a reputable bed bug dog. (I am not sure what the local laws dictate regarding this.) Second best would be voluntary inspections with a bed bug dog. A human who takes the time to search carefully can also do a nice job.

Wrexham Council also have a section of their website on pest control which is devoted to bed bugs. Residents of Wexham take note: it’s not perfect; one fact it does not mention is that tenants may not feel itchy bites and may also not see anything, at least at first.Similar Posts:

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I don’t have enough time at this moment to do much commentary on this, but I want to point you to New York vs. Bed Bugs, where Renee of New York vs. Bed Bugs posted a new podcast with David Cain of Bed Bugs Limited (many readers will also know David from our Bedbugger forums, both for his knowledge of bed bugs and his sense of humor).

Among other things, the discussion covers David’s recent London Bed Bug Survey, and various types of bed bug monitors.

Thanks to Renee, and to David!Similar Posts:

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