• Use bed bug registries and warn others about infested buildings and hotels!
• Bed bugs invade Chicago’s Presidential Towers, and another Vancouver Island detox
• Forget black mattress stains, bed bugs, shells, and eggs: NMPA press release tells consumers to look for “blood spots”
• Brown student wants to provide free bed bug treatment to those who can’t pay

ShareThis

Rebekah Worsham said the saga began in Kentucky when the family was expecting a transfer to Atlanta. Rather than buy living room furniture, the Worshams went to a local Aaron Rents outlet.

When the delivery truck arrived at their home, the Worshams and the delivery personnel noticed bugs on the furniture, she said. The crew took the pieces back, promising to clean and return them.

Worsham said the furniture came back a day later, but so did the bugs.

“A week or so later our kids started waking up with these red bites all over them. We did too,” Worsham said.

The tiny biting insects quickly spread from the rental furniture throughout the Worsham home, infesting beds, carpets and other furniture, Akin said.

Worsham said Aaron Rents initially worked with the family, replacing bedding and mattresses and hiring an exterminator who made several failed attempts to remedy the situation.

The family thought, the lawyer said, that when they moved to Atlanta, they could leave the bugs behind by throwing away pillows, towels and other linens. Instead, they learned the bugs had infested the bed frames and other wood pieces they brought to a rental house in Dallas.

An entomologist the couple eventually consulted told them the bugs crawl into wood furniture, televisions, stereos, clothing and can live up to 18 months without feeding, Worsham said.

Tha family has completely abandoned two homes so far because they were infested.

People need to be aware that rental furniture is at serious risk of harboring bed bugs. Anything that has been in someone else’s home (whether it’s a rental sofa or a set of towels from eBay or Craigslist, or a comforter someone else bought and returned to the store before you bought it “new”) may have bed bugs. Something that can’t thoroughly be inspected, like the insides of a sofa, is especially suspect.

But the other concern here is the truck used to deliver the sofa; from the description above, it may well have been the truck that was infested.

When I first started reading about bed bugs in early 2006, there was a story going around that one furniture rental giant had heaters in its trucks that it used to de-infest rental items. I was impressed and thought this was a great idea. We still do not know which company is doing this, or if it is just another apocryphal bed bug myth. But I’d love to know.

• FAQ: Where can I read about bed bug lawsuits? Can you help me find a lawyer?
• Word about bed bugs getting around
• Why we need a massive public education campaign about bed bugs (reason #327)
• a bed bug story from Hawai’i; Fagerlund on aerosol bombs and pesticides

ShareThis

First, the building manager and exterminator say this is the building’s first bed bugs case in six years. Six years?!? What were they doing with them six years ago? Isn’t that before the current bed bug epidemic? If so, it seems to contradict the theory that this bug came back to the US a few years ago and via international travel through NYC, SF, Boston.

Second, the building manager and exterminator are claiming the bed bugs can’t be treated until the family moves out. He finally appears to have agreed to treat if they left for a weekend. Maybe they are concerned the family simply won’t follow the standard treatment protocols (including all that bagging and washing). Or maybe they’re doing bomb fumigations, which are not effective against bed bugs, and in fact spread them around buildings. I hope not!

• Caitlin of the bed bug blog was reinfested.
• ABC 7 Eyewitness News: Edison, NJ infestation
• FAQ: Do I have to tell my landlord / co-op board / condo association / residents of attached house next door?
• Bed Bugs in Hampton Roads, Virginia hotels

ShareThis