Residents are seeing bed bugs and some have had itchy bed bug bites for as long as five months.  Some tenants complained their units were not treated, others that the LCHA made them throw out beds and other furniture, which the residents cannot afford on their fixed incomes.

• More bad news about Denver’s bed bug-infested Halcyon House
• New Jersey’s laws designed to spread bed bugs in rental housing
• Why are people with bed bugs being told to throw out all their furniture?
• Indianapolis Housing Authority vs. Bed Bugs

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We aren’t sure exactly sure what’s happening in the Twin Cities yet, but according to this article in the Star-Tribune Saturday about bed bugs in the area,

More than 140 landlords recently attended the first meeting of a bedbug task force, and all but five said they’d had problems with the pests. Three years ago, Plunkett’s Pest Removal had three cases all year. Now it has three full-time exterminators tackling nothing but bedbug problems. At Adams Pest Control, bedbug complaints have increased 25 percent in just a year.

At the very least, it sounds like over 140 landlords met to gain and share information about bed bugs, which in and of itself is not a bad thing. Whether local officials or agencies are involved or not is another question.

I would welcome any further information on this event and the task force!

• Lexington, KY vs. New York, NY: a tale of two bedbugged cities
• We love Dr. Susan Jones, Entomologist
• Last week’s Town Hall Meeting in Cincinnati
• Cincinnati city/county combined bed bug task force drafts bed bug plan, not a moment too soon

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By mapping bed bug infestations on a highly localised level, using postcode sectors*, the company has been able to both confirm certain theories and discount others about how this pest is spreading geographically.

(The notes tell us, “Postcode Sectors are the first part of a postcode plus the first digit of the second part e.g. SE1 1. Dependent on density, this gives a map resolution of approximately half a mile.”)

The report may help answer questions like:

Why… does the data show such a spike in 2004? And why do there appear to be distinct ‘hotspots’ and ‘corridors’ running through London?

Bed-Bugs.co.uk managing director David Cain says: “This is a real breakthrough in the fight against bed bugs. Mapping on this micro level has given us a hitherto unseen view of exactly how bed bugs are spreading across London”

“Most interestingly, the research shows that in certain areas (i.e. postcode sectors) infestations have been effectively tackled, with reported numbers considerably reduced. In other areas the problem has remained roughly the same but in some areas the number of reported infestations has risen alarmingly.

Our research also dispels the myth that bed bugs are a universal problem in London but confirms that in certain areas the problem has reached epidemic proportions and that current control methods are simply not working. The big questions are ‘why not?’ and ‘what can we do to address that?’ ”

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Councils were asked to supply data showing the number of infestations reported to them over the last 5 years, by Postcode Sector. The majority of Councils were able to comply with the request and the data has now been analysed and mapped.

The results show that, looked at on a macro-level e..g. by council or by postcode area e.g. SW or even by postcode district e.g. SW8 one receives a totally false picture of the problem.

Only when infestations are mapped on a micro-level such as Postcode sector e.g. SW8 5 does one get a clear and accurate picture of the problem. Across the Capital, we have identified numerous sectors showing large increases with many showing 300-400% year-on-year increases.

In other words, casting the net over a smaller geographical area yields more meaningful data and suggests patterns.

David Cain says his company will be sharing this information with all participating London councils at a conference on December 15th.

He also argues councils should all be tracking data on infestations (and doing so the same way), and that bed bugs should be a notifiable pest.

Want to get rid of bed bugs? Find out where they are, and keep track of how they spread.

We applaud Cain and his team for undertaking this research, and we hope all cities begin tracking infestations.

• In London? Got bed bugs (or think you do)?
• The Times (UK) on bed bug epidemic in the USA
• What is it going to take to convince these people that bed bugs are not dust mites, or fleas?!?
• Times article on spread of bed bugs via trains, planes, and automobiles

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Their battle with bed bugs has been going on for a year and a half, according to this article from News Channel 11.

And yesterday, between 40-50 residents whose mattresses had been thrown out have had new ones delivered, bought by the Salvation Army with donations.

Another story six weeks ago from WJHL said Terminex was beginning treatment in the building, with freezing and pesticides.

I assume that the mattresses are being replaced because the bed bugs have completely disappeared.

A few questions spring to mind:

• Were all tenants educated about detecting and avoiding bed bug infestations in the future?
• Are the bed bugs 100% gone? (If yes, how do we know this?)
• Were tenants issued with bed bug proof encasements?  Because it’s probably inevitable in the current climate that someone will reintroduce bed bugs at some point.

And if there are still bed bugs in the building — which is difficult to determine with any certainty, frankly — good encasements, used properly, will at least keep them from harboring on or in the mattresses.

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in the US, and may all your bites today involve turkey (or Tofurkey)!

• Vikane Fumigation Successful in New Jersey
• Sweet Dreams Project: Astoria businessman donating mattresses to those with bed bugs
• Windsor, Ontario: bed bugs in public housing
• KRDO in Colorado Springs: some misleading advice regarding bed bugs

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David said, “We found bedbugs in two units; this one, and the one below. We renovated. We put insecticide powder down; diatomaceous earth, with a weak insecticide. Then we put in new floors; laminate, tight-fitting.” They also put new quarter-round on all the baseboards, and they sealed all the cracks; they rebuilt walls and sealed and sprayed the drywall; they put powder in all the electrical outlets; they caulked everywhere they could.

David, who has five buildings and is negotiating to buy three more, said, “I think I’ve spent $15,000 to $20,000 on bedbugs over the past five years.”

I was curious. He said, “I have a social responsibility. I don’t want a reputation as a slum landlord. I regard my tenants as my customers; some have become my friends.” I was disarmed.

David and Eric (who was a social worker before he became a super!) demonstrate that it is possible to fight bed bugs with DE + insecticide, and apparently without traditional spraying. However, it’s worth noting they did a lot more than dust a bit of powder around the room.

Getting rid of bed bugs is almost never easy.  And I would not want to encourage people to try and fight an infestation with just dust, in the absence of other extreme measures.

However, the most important messages we can glean from David Brown’s building are:

• treating bed bugs the wrong way can cost landlords more than dealing with the problem properly,
• treating bed bugs properly starts with educating yourself about bed bugs,
• tenants need to know they can report bed bugs (indeed, need to know bed bugs exist) so that treatment can occur before things get out of hand.

We know from other stories that if tenants fear they will be blamed, or fear they will have to pay for treatment, they may be reluctant to come forward.

In the end, this costs everyone — landlords, tenants, neighboring tenants — much more money and pain.

David Brown and Eric Marshall to have found ways to avoid this scenario; that Brown dealing well enough with bed bugs in his rooming houses to be able to  grow his business during the current bed bug epidemic is itself a lesson to other landlords.

Do read the rest of Joe Fiorito’s excellent story here.

• Nicholas Brown’s “The Bedbug Chronicles: Part 6″ sounds pretty familiar
• Bed bugs usually plague a city for a few weeks before being eradicated. Really, Waterbury Health Department?
• 25 Grant Street in Denver, Colorado: bed bugs for two years
• New Britain, CT: how can building managers turn a good building bad? Ignore the bed bugs.

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KONA, HAWAII — Nov. 24, 2008 — Kama’aina Termite & Pest Control recently completed work at the largest structure ever to be fumigated for bed bugs: an upscale hotel in Kona, Hawaii. The 4.5 million-cubic-foot hotel had been plagued by bed bugs for several months with no acceptable control from topical applications.

Kama’aina used Vikane (TM), a.k.a. sulfuryl fluoride, and it took 16 workers and $100,000 in tarps, water snakes and clamps. It was not easy:

This was an extremely challenging fumigation,” Miske says. “The structure was massive, there was a strong wind coming off the coastline and we had to meet an extremely tight deadline. We had to take special safety precautions to keep our employees and the public safe.”

During the fumigation, safety officers were positioned around the structure to ensure worker safety. In addition, any fumigator going more than 10 feet off the ground to lay a tarp was required to wear a safety harness and retractable lanyard.

You can read more in PCT Online and do look at Kama’aina’s photos of enormous tented structures including King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel.

Thanks to Renee for the tip.

• Bed bugs appear in a Time article on Obama’s upcoming Hawaii trip
• Bed bugs at Hawai’i’s Halawa Correctional Facility
• San Francisco woman settles bed bug case out of court for $71K
• Bed bugs infest New Rochelle cell block and three police cars

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• Newark tenants suffer health problems — possibly related to bed bugs, fleas, mice, or pest control treatment
• Toronto’s Bug and Scrub: shelter guests being trained as pest control techs
• Council bed bug treatment in the UK: rates going up
• Bed bugs in a senior apartment building in San Diego

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The problem at Paquin Towers was first detected in March and has escalated since then, with 10% of the buildings 200 units already having been treated. At first, they were being treated one by one, but the CHA has discovered this is not enough where bed bugs are concerned.

Since [March], the housing authority has treated 20 units for the bugs, [Columbia Housing Authority CEO Phil Steinhaus] said. At first, the infestations were discovered and treated one by one, but the CHA now is treating six heavily infested units. Several features of Paquin Tower make the problem tough to tackle.

“What we do know, they are spreading through chases, or service-duct areas between apartments for wiring and plumbing,” Steinhaus said. “Air comes in under doorways, and there is ventilation in the ceilings of bathrooms. That’s how you get air exchange. We can’t go in and seal an apartment up or fog it or bug-bomb it.”

Unfortunately, treating the entire building is not an option. Steinhaus says it costs $2500 to treat one unit (which presumably involves assistance with prep, as well as fumigation of belongings in a truck, and pesticide spraying in the unit — all strategies mentioned in the article). This would amount to 1/2 a million dollars to treat the entire building.

Dealing with bed bug prep and treatment can be disorienting and upsetting for anyone, but for residents of Paquin Tower, these effects can be dangerously disruptive.

“With some of our folks, we have to be very sensitive about their routines,” Steinhaus said. “If they get something that throws their life into turmoil, it can be hard to get back to an even keel again.”

Charles Dudley, a Paquin resident for about 4½ years, said the small units that can resemble dorm rooms lend themselves to clutter. “In this building, there are residents with varying degrees of psychological disorders - hoarders, people with depression, anxiety - and they have accumulated a lot of stuff,” he said. “It’s important to them. How do you determine who should get rid of what? That’s going to be a hard issue to come across.”

Nevertheless residents are being told they must clean and de-clutter by December 17th, when inspections begin. Those who do not comply (with assistance if needed) will have their leases terminated.

Removing bed bugs from a high-rise, where bed bugs may be much more widespread than is already known, will be no easy task, especially given the challenges of the building’s design. The first step is knowledge, and it does sound like the management are aware of the difficulties of treatment, and prepared to support residents who need help.

It is also distressing to think that some residents with mental and/or physical disabilities may be evicted because they resist de-cluttering, prep, and treatment (even with assistance). It’s clear that requiring compliance is essential for the well-being of the rest of the residents, but I do hope support and counseling is being provided to resistant and non-compliant residents, so they can understand the importance of this, and avoid being evicted.

Thanks to Charles Dudley for pointing me to this article in a comment today. More from the Paquin Towers Residents’ blog.

• Surrey, B.C. public housing infested with bed bugs
• Bowling Green Towers: residents organize to demand proper bed bug treatment in low-income building
• Bed bugs in Ventura County (Thousand Oaks, California)
• Bowling Green Towers: another infestation in elderly and disabled housing

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According to WCPO, Hamilton County has issued guidelines to schools regarding bed bugs, which include:

training staff to identify bed bugs; discretely removing a child from the classroom for an inspection; bagging and sealing belongings that have bed bugs; and notifying parents when their children have bed bugs.

I am troubled by the language suggesting children who “have” bed bugs carry them around on their bodies, which sounds like a description of lice.

It is possible that a person could be covered in bed bugs, but it’s important to remember that bed bugs can crawl onto or off of a person (or their belongings) at any time. They do hitchhike on clothing or in bags, but they do not live on people. They generally feed for 3-10 minutes and then flee. If a bed bug is found on a child in school, it does not mean the child brought the bed bug into school.

Places, not people, are infested with bed bugs.

The WLWT video shows Greg Kesterman of Hamilton County Public Health reminding parents to “regularly check your child” and the child’s bed for bed bugs. Not bad advice, though bed bugs could be elsewhere in the home.

I am glad that Cincinnati’s school employees and parents are thinking about bed bugs and being told what to do when they surface. I am especially happy Hamilton County parents will hear from the school if bed bugs are found there. I just hope the message is made clear to parents that bed bugs are a different kind of communicable pest, and if anyone “has” them, they have them in their home (or schoolbus, or car, or school), not “on” a kid.

• Warning to Bracken County, KY: don’t get caught in the bed bug blame game
• Schools in Bracken County, KY shut down due to bed bugs
• NYC Bedbuggers: time to have some local politicians over for a bite or two
• Waterbury, Connecticut: let’s try less shame, and better information about bed bugs

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And then, try Itchy-Scratchy’s Ancient Hungarian Bed Bug Curse.

• ancient Bed bug tale, from the Fables of Bidpai
• The Los Angeles Times: great bed bugs of history?
• Let’s get into that holiday spirit
• FAQ: Should I do my own pest control for bed bugs?

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