New York vs. Bed Bugs points out the distressing data from a recent survey: the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Joint Bed Bug Task Force (JBBTF) sponsored a series of questions in a survey conducted by The University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research. They found that 14.5% of Cincinnati residents surveyed had had bed bugs.

Renee of New York vs. Bed Bugs writes,

Cincinnati, population 332,252, received give or take 757 official bed bug complaints in 2007. Do we realize what this survey suggests about the likely underreporting rate? The official stats could account for less than 2% of the actual cases.

And is it possible that there could be ______ New Yorkers who have bed bugs? Why can’t we have this type of survey here?

I agree, and I suspect we would find the percentage of New Yorkers who have or have had bed bugs is much higher than that represented by HPD bed bug violations.

We’ve known for a long time anecdotally that the official numbers probably do not account for the majority of NYC bed bug cases.

It’s scary to consider that a number like this 14.5% might be applied to the NYC population.

And let’s not start in on the fact that the same survey found 31% of Cincinnati residents with bed bugs used only an over-the-counter spray to fight their bed bugs — a method likely to allow bed bugs to keep on thriving and spreading.

New Yorkers, don’t walk by the entire wall of bed bug spray in the Duane Reade on Fifth Ave. in midtown and tell me you are not worried. Join us at New York vs. Bed Bugs and write your letter to tell the city to do something, now.
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