11/18/2011 Avoid Bedbugs During The Holidays

Bedbugs are making a comeback and can be a real nightmare to get rid of, because they’re tiny and can hide in places that are to clean. I met with an expert to find out what to look for, so bed bugs don’t hitch a ride home with you.”You can certainly see old dead bedbugs,” said Chad Gore, an entomologist with Ehrlich Pest Control, as he surveyed an infested mattress.Gore doesn’t leave home without a flashlight. He’s a frequent traveler and he uses it to search for bedbugs before he spends the night in a hotel.

First, he puts his suitcase in the bathroom, and then, he pulls back the sheets.”One of the first signs that you might see are the droppings,” said Gore.He showed me the disgusting-looking brown stains on the mattress, which are a tell-tale sign that bedbugs are living and feeding here.”So that’s a bedbug. They’re really pretty tiny,” I said after seeing one for the first time. It was an immature bedbug which looked a lot like a deer tick.

Gore told me full-grown bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed. They sleep during the day and feed at night, leaving welts that are similar to a mosquito bite.”So it bit somebody?” “Yea, that one fed,” said Gore as he showed me the dark-colored abdomen, which was full of blood.At the end of World War II, bedbugs dropped off the radar. They were practically non-existent in this country for 50 years, and then, for some reason bed bugs started making a comeback.”Bedbugs are an ever growing problem,” said Gore.He said bedbugs know no social boundaries. They’ve been found in luxury hotels, low-income apartments, dorm rooms, movie theaters, restaurants, even taxis.

Here at Target 11, we get a tip call about once a week about another high rise, or apartment complex, or hotel or motel that’s supposedly infested with bedbugs.About an hour before we shot this story, the bedroom had been treated for the pests, which made me feel a little bit better, because I didn’t want any bedbugs hitching a ride home with me.The professionals had used steam and an insecticide in the first of three treatments that will be spaced about a week apart.”If they have an Achilles’ heel, it’s heat. Anything above 122 degrees will kill a bedbug,” said Gore.

If you have bedbugs, everything that can be laundered should be washed in hot water and dried on high heat.If possible, throw out the mattress and empty out of the drawers, so every last crack and crevice can be treated.The first indication that you have bedbugs is often a bite.At that point, I would call in a professional, because they can be very hard to get rid of, especially if you live in a building where bedbugs can more move from one apartment to the next.

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11/15/2011 Bedbug Warning To UK: Wash Your Sheets: Time And Cashed Strapped Brits Are Cutting Back On Washing Their Bedding Putting Them At High Risk Of Bedbugs

One in eight people sleep in bedding that has not been washed for over a month, according to a new study.

Time and cash-strapped Brits are cutting back on washing their bedding – putting them at a high risk of a bed bug infestation, reveals the annual survey.

And men came out worst with 1.7 million waiting more than a month before washing their bed sheets.

The annual Bed Bug Audit, conducted by Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance, found that 29 per cent of Brits have cut back on washing their bedding due to lack of time while 17 per cent delay washing their dirty laundry to cut costs.

More than one in eight Brits (13 per cent) sleep in bedding that has not been washed for over a month, while a quarter (27 per cent) sleep on mattresses that are more than 10-years-old.

With forecasters predicting erratic temperatures this winter which could reach -15C by Christmas, bedrooms could become the perfect breeding ground for bed bugs, which take refuge in the warmth of mattresses, pillows and sheets to feed.

To add to the cosy conditions, over half of more than 1,000 Brits polled (56 per cent) said they will use extra blankets to keep warm this winter, while 31 per cent will opt for a hot water bottle.

With forecasters predicting erratic temperatures this winter which could reach -15C by Christmas, bedrooms could become the perfect breeding ground for bed bugs, which take refuge in the warmth of mattresses, pillows and sheets to feed.

To add to the cosy conditions, over half of more than 1,000 Brits polled (56 per cent) said they will use extra blankets to keep warm this winter, while 31 per cent will opt for a hot water bottle.

Almost one-in-five people polled said they were more likely now than last year to buy second-hand furniture, which is a leading source of infestation as a pre-owned mattress alone can contain up to 10 million bed bugs.

One-in-six men put in an average of 30 days sheet use before washing their bedding while four per cent admitted to not washing their bedding in over two months.

Nine per cent of men confessed that they did not think washing the bed was important with more than a third confessing they put off washing due to sheer laziness.

This is all the more worrying as bed bugs are not the only ones enjoying a bedroom bite – 46 per cent of Brits said that they had eaten a meal in bed. Nine per cent admit they regularly eat breakfast in bed, while 10 per cent even said that they eat their evening meal in the sack.

The Bed Bug Audit also revealed that 26 per cent of Brits polled had no idea how bed bugs spread and a quarter (25 per cent) said they were unaware of any measures to counter them, such as leaving sheets exposed during the day or regularly vacuuming all areas of the room – including the seams of the mattress.

It seems those in Yorkshire have the cleanest bed sheets with the average person washing their bedding more than three times every month.

Londoners seems to be the worst when it comes to keeping their linen clean with more than half of those living in the capital surveyed admitting putting off washing bedding when they are feeling lazy, while 18 per cent of Scots put off washing to cut costs.

Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance spokeswoman Jacky Brown said: ‘We spend so much time in our beds that it is astounding so many Brits and particularly bug busting men – do not keep them clean.

‘Simple measures like avoiding eating in bed, leaving the sheets exposed during the day and washing them regularly can help avoid an infestation

‘Bed bugs in the home can be an extremely unpleasant experience so it is important that homeowners have a way to deal quickly with an infestation such as our pest cover otherwise the upcoming cold spell could provide a nasty wake-up call.’

9/16/2011 Atlanta Family Finds Bedbugs In Rent-A-Center Mattress: Store Offers Credit But Won’t Admit Specific Problem

Carolyn Pittman still sits up at night, wondering whether any little itch she feels is caused by the irritating bite of a bedbug.

Pittman and her family said they leased two mattresses from a Rent-A-Center store on Moreland Avenue in southeast Atlanta, only to find the blood-sucking parasites crawling out from the seams.

“I’m scared now to lay in my bed,” Pittman said.

“I would start itching. My skin would get really dry,” said Jeanetta Wilson, Pittman’s daughter.

Wilson, at first, thought she had an allergy, but one day she found the vile parasites lining the seams of her bed as well. I lifted my sheets up and we just saw black bugs crawling around,” Wilson said. “I had to go through my room and wash my sheets and clothes and make sure nothing was on the bed. I didn’t know what they were. I had never seen them before.”

CBS Atlanta went to the store to ask a manager if Rent-A-Center is leasing mattresses with bedbugs. The manager said only “no comment.”

Rent-A-Center has offered the family a store credit for 230 dollars and a letter acknowledging there was a problem, without admitting what the problem was.

Pittman says that has done little to help her sleep better at night. “Every night I’m looking,” Pittman said.

Xavier Dominicis, a spokesman for Rent-A-Center, said it is unlikely the bedbugs came from the store. “Our stores are routinely inspected by licensed exterminators,” Dominicis said.

He added, “It was brand-new merchandise. It was only in the store for one day. The customers never mentioned they had a bedbug problem. They just said that they didn’t want the items.”

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Bedbugs On Way Up Says National Pest Association

Yuck.

Bedbugs are on the uptick in hotels, on public transport and in other public places.

So says a new survey from the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) survey. It found that infestations — even in hospitals — are up over last year.

Even the pest-control industry “has been surprised” by the resurgence of bedbugs and “where they’re being found,” NPMA public affairs VP Missy Henriksen tells me.

According to the just-released NPMA/University of Kentucky 2011 “Bugs Without Borders Survey,” involving 415 pest-control specialists, the creepy crawlers have multiplied and are found in places you might not expect.

Survey findings include:

* 99% of pest professionals have seen bedbug infestations in the past year (up from 95% in 2010)

*80% of pest professionals have treated bedbugs in hotels/motels, compared with 67% in 2010

*73% of pest professionals believe bedbugs are the most difficult pest to treat
*54% have treated bedbugs in college dorms, up from 35% in 2010
*46% have treated bedbugs in nursing homes, vs. 25% in 2010
*38% have treated bedbugs in office buildings, compared with 18% in 2010
* 36% have treated bedbugs in schools and day care centers, vs. 10% in 2010. That’s an amazing increase, as is the 31% who say they’ve found bedbugs in hospitals, vs. 12% in 2010
*18% have treated bedbugs in trains, buses or taxis, compared with 9% in 2010
*17% have dealt with bedbugs in movie theaters; 5% in 2010

RELATED:  Does your hotel have bedbugs? Check this registry

Why the increase? “Bedbugs are hitchhikers,” Henriksen says. More of us are traveling, and we lead increasingly mobile lives. Also, strong chemicals formerly used to treat bedbugs haven’t been allowed for decades, freeing the little biters to thrive.

The good news, if one can call it that, is that infestations can be treated, by steam, heat, freezing, chemicals, vacuuming or a combination of the above, Henriksen says. She offers some tips for travelers:

*When checking into a hotel, check behind the headboard and on the mattress for stains — blood or fecal matter indicating bedbugs may be present.

*Try to avoid leaving luggage on upholstered surfaces. The safest place is in the bathroom, on counters or in the shower, because the bugs don’t like uncarpeted or non-upholstered surfaces with no place to hide.

*While many find sites such as bedbugregistry.com, which contain reports by travelers and others about infestations, useful, Henriksen warns that since complaints are anonymous, they could be written by disgruntled competitors or employees. And a bedbug infestation that’s here today could be gone tomorrow if the hotel has a good pest control policy, she says. “And hotels are much more proactive now,” she says. Maybe, but if I see multiple, detailed reports of problems at a hotel, I don’t make a reservation. Better to be safe than sorry.

*The bad news is that more bedbugs are being found on trains and planes, she says. So it’s important to be vigilant when you arrive home.

That means immediately taking out all clothes and washing and drying them on “hot,” she says. Or bag them and send them to the dry cleaner if they’re delicate. Vacuum the suitcase thoroughly and dispose of the vacuum bag, she says.

Good tips. Do readers have any more? Have any of you brought bedbugs home from a trip and how did you eradicate them?

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8/11/2011 Battling Bedbugs In Austin Illinois: Town Hall Style Presentations To Educate Residents

The faces of Austin residents in attendance displayed noticeable disgust as John Phorbes, a professional exterminator, explained how best to fight those pesky and annoying bed bugs.

The North Austin Branch Library, 5724 W. North Ave., hosted an informational session on Saturday July 30, on how to combat the creatures. A packed audience filled the library’s meeting area to listen to Phorbes, owner of Rose Exterminators, who’s been in the business for 14 years. He told attendees that the bugs can come from a number of things, including garments belonging to neighbors, as well as students returning home from college. If bitten, 54 percent of people will have no reaction, Phorbes said, while 46 percent of people will have a delayed reaction-days or weeks-from a bite.

The bugs inject their own saliva prior to their bites, making their feeding painless and unnoticeable. They’re called bed bugs because they tend to feed on sleeping humans during the night, and mattresses are an easy place to breed. The bugs have a 2- to 3-year lifespan, resulting in an infestation of upwards of 500 bugs. They can also be found by light sockets and cracks in the wall, and the best way to control them, according to Phorbes, is through paying close attention and early detection.

Residents in attendance, though, were shocked and disgusted about the information they learned, many left scratching-and itching-in their seats. Phorbes also addressed several myths about the creatures.

Although they’re called “Bed Bugs,” they can be found in places outside the bedroom. Products advertised to control them also don’t have any real affect. Phorbes explained that among the best solutions is vacuuming and using green products-Cryonite, that freezes them to death, and old-fashioned fumigation. All of this, Phorbes noted, will take a lot of time to do thoroughly.

By the end of the presentation, he left residents with tips to stay pest-free.

• Take care of the household, be proactive (anyone can get them)
• Get rid of any mattress that is worn out or torn
• They are known to die in heat over 135 degrees, so if they are on your clothes, just throw them in the dryer in high heat.
• For most households, the bed bug epidemic is becoming more common than ever, according to Phorbes.
• Other know facts surrounding them is that some are known to carry diseases, such as HIV, but there are no cases reported in which they were able to transfer the virus to a human. If a bite mark is noticed, a visit to a dermatologist is a necessary option, as most cases are often misdiagnosed by a physician.

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7/17/2011 Why BedBugs Won’t Be Stopped

Seems like everywhere you go someone in the media is talking about bedbugs. Most recently, a study compiled by Terminix, a pest control service company, ranked the top most infested cities in 2011. Among those in the study include: Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia and, edging out all of the competition at number one, New York.

So, why are these little bloodsucking critters not going away? It would seem that with all the news stories, we as a public would know the precautions needed in place so that we don’t find ourselves battling a case of the bedbugs. Well, we would be mistaken.

Our bedbug problem has been around in large numbers since 2000. It has grown and effected more homes, offices, theatres, planes and retail establishments in 2010 than any previous year.

There are so many answers as to what we should do. Knowing that the information you receive from a pest control professional can vary due to experience and education, here are some things to keep in mind when calling a “professional.”

1. Are they licensed and insured?
2. Do they take the time to answer your questions and give you great customer service?
3. How are their online reviews? (Remember you can’t make everyone happy all the time.)
4. Do they have a guarantee on their work?
5. Can they supply you with the labels to the chemicals they are using upon arrival to treat your home or office? (In New York, it’s law, and you should research what they are putting into the atmosphere within your home.)

We can also take several pre-emptive measures to help place a barrier around our homes, offices and automobiles so that, if and when, we come in contact with bedbugs, they won’t hitchhike over to our place:

• Purchase mattress encasements. (They even have crib encasements now)
• Open packages from retailers (both on and off line) outside or in a garage.
• Be wise when you stay in a hotel. Watch my video on hotels and bedbugs here.
• Don’t bring used furniture into your home.
• Buy a bedbug spray that specifically says bedbugs on the can or bottle.

Number five on our pre-emptive measures checklist is one of the most important steps you can take to help keep the bedbugs out. Creating a barrier around your home, office and automobile is a triple threat cocktail to kill whatever comes into these areas.

Bedbug sprays come in all sizes and shapes. I recommend Pronto Plus® bedbug spray, as it’s effective in providing the coverage and barrier on the items you choose to apply it to and won’t leave you coughing for hours. Always research and find the solution that is right for your current situation and remember to read the labels of any product you spray or use in your home.

So now I ask you, why are bedbugs still growing in numbers all across America? We all have a responsibly to protect our families, friends and even our coworkers. Take the time to educate yourself about how these little critters work, especially if you are living in or visiting New York.

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7/3/2011 Top 10 BedBug Myths: The insects, making a comeback around the globe, cannot fly and are really not interested in hanging out on your body–but they do occasionally bite during the day

Once a pest of the past, bedbugs now infest every state in the U.S.. Cimex lectularius—small, flattened insects that feed solely on mammalian and avian blood—have been living with humans since ancient times. Abundant in the U.S. prior to World War II , bedbugs all but vanished during the 1940s and ’50s thanks to improvements in hygiene and the use of pesticides. In the past 10 years, however, the pests have staged a comeback worldwide—an outbreak after the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney was a harbinger of things to come. This revival may be the worst yet, experts say, due to densely populated urban areas, global travel and increasing pesticide resistance—something to consider as the summer travel season gets underway.

“By every metric that we use, it’s getting worse and worse,” says Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Health authorities and pest control operators are regularly flooded with calls, and the epidemic may not have yet peaked. And because bedbugs are indoor pests, there are no high or low seasons throughout the year, he adds, only continual bombardment. “It’s just the beginning of the problem in the U.S.,” Schal says.

Spreading rapidly with the bedbugs is a mass of misinformation about their biology and behavior. Straight from the experts, here are the facts behind some of the most notorious myths about the diminutive bloodsuckers.

Myth 1: Bedbugs can fly
Bedbugs lack wings, and therefore cannot fly. That is unless you put a blow dryer behind them, says Stephen Kells, a bedbug researcher at the University of Minnesota. Then they’ll fly about 1.2 meters. On their own, bedbugs crawl about a meter a minute, he says.

Myth 2: Bedbugs reproduce quickly
Compared with other insects, bedbugs are slow to reproduce: Each adult female produces about one egg per day; a common housefly lays 500 eggs over three to four days. Each bedbug egg takes 10 days to hatch and another five to six weeks for the offspring to develop into an adult.

Myth 3: Bedbugs can typically live a year without a meal
Scientists debate this point, but evidence suggests that at normal room temperature, about 23 degrees Celsius, bedbugs can only survive two to three months without a blood meal. But because they are cold-blooded, their metabolism will slow down in chillier climates, and the insects may live up to a year without feeding.

Myth 4: Bedbugs bite only at night
Although bedbugs are generally nocturnal, they’re like humans—if they’re hungry, they’ll get up and get something to eat. “If you go away to visit a friend for a week and you come back and sit down on the couch, even though it’s daytime the bedbugs will come looking for you,” Schal says. Keeping a light on, then, unfortunately does not keep these tiny vampires away.

Myth 5: Bedbugs live exclusively in mattresses
“‘Bedbug’ is such a misnomer,” Kells says. “They should also be called pet bugs and suitcase bugs and train bugs and movie theater bugs.” Bedbugs spread away from beds into living areas and can be seen on any surface, he says, including chairs, railings and ceilings.

Myth 6: Bedbugs prefer unsanitary, urban conditions
“Bedbugs are terribly nondiscriminatory,” Schal says. Bedbugs can be found anywhere from ritzy high-rises to homeless shelters. The prevalence of the bugs in low-income housing is therefore not a result of the insect’s preference, but of dense populations and the lack of money to pay for proper elimination strategies. “Any location is vulnerable,” Kells says. “But some people are going to have a harder time getting control of them because it is such an expensive treatment.”

Myth 7: Bedbugs travel on our bodies
Bedbugs do not like heat, Kells says. They therefore do not stick in hair or on skin, like lice or ticks, and prefer not to remain in our clothes close to our bodily heat. Bedbugs are more likely to travel on backpacks, luggage, shoes and other items farther removed from our bodies.

Myth 8: Bedbugs transmit disease
Bedbug bites can lead to anxiety, sleeplessness and even secondary infections, but there have been no reported cases of bedbugs transmitting disease to humans. They do, however, harbor human pathogens: At least 27 viruses, bacteria, protozoa and more have been found in bedbugs, although these microbes do not reproduce or multiply within the insects. Canadian researchers announced (pdf) in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases that bedbugs isolated from three individuals in a Vancouver hospital carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, aka MRSA. Still, there have been no reported cases that the bugs actually transmit human disease.

Myth 9: We should bring back DDT
When the controversial pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, most bed bugs were already resistant to it, Schal says, and today’s populations are even more widely resistant thanks to the use of a new class of pesticides. Pyrethroids, the main class of pesticides used against bedbugs today, targets sodium channels in bedbug cells, just like DDT. Consequently, as bedbugs develop resistance to pyrethroids, they also become cross-resistant to DDT.

Myth 10: You can spray bedbugs away
Thanks to pesticide resistance, those cans of spray at your local hardware store simply will not do, Schal says, adding: “Relying strictly on chemicals is generally not a good solution.” The most effective solutions are fumigation and heat treatments, but these can cost a cool $2,000 to $3,000 apiece for a single-family home. Scientists are diligently pursuing other strategies, including freezing and bait similar to that used for cockroaches. In the October 2010 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology Schal and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a technique that employs inexpensive infrared and vibration sensors to track bedbug movement, which could be applied to the development of automated traps that detect the pests.

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6/14/2011 Insurer AON Launches BedBug Insurance Policy: First Of Its Kind For Hotels, Landlords & Companies

6/7/2011 How Hotels Can Avoid Bedbugs: Experts Give Top Tips To Avoiding Bedbug Infestation

Bed bugs can be a real “pest” for hoteliers! We ask Bed Bugs experts, Heat and Go, how to stop them becoming an endemic throughout your building.

Operations manager, Cliff Eccles, reveals all.

1. Early Detection System
   Bed bug detection is now made easier with electronic “sniffing devices!” It’s like having a canine detective in your pocket! It is used by professional pest technicians to locate those hard-to-find pockets of bed bugs – they usually hide in confined spaces. After a few hours in these spaces, the CO2 they produce builds up and an electronic bed bug detector can indicate their presence.
2. In-House Staff Training
   To provide early detection your Staff need to know how to identify a bed bug – the signs of activity, where they are most likely to hide, where to detect them and what to do in order to stop them spreading! Through staff training, you can understand the insect and detect them early, prevent them spreading and minimise expense and loss of revenue.
3. Mattress Encasements
   The first thought is often to throw away the mattress which can be expensive and time-consuming to replace. With a heat treatment, the mattress and all other furniture in the room is cleansed against bed bug eggs and adults. To stop the mattress becoming re-infested, specially developed mattress encasements are available, which are bite proof and totally sealed to stop Bed Bugs harbouring on the mattress. An encasement is recommended after every heat treatment to minimise harbourages. A range of suitable sizes are available.
4. Annual Room Inspections
   Part of your due diligence against bed bugs is ensuring visitors don’t get bitten. Therefore, you need to declare at some point that the room has been thoroughly inspected and is bed bug free. Heat and Go’s trained technicians can provide a documented room inspection, so the room can be declared bed bug free.
5. Heat Treatments
   Bed bugs need to be heat treated. We use wireless temperature probes strategically placed to provide consistent feedback to our technicians who will make adjustments as necessary until the correct temperature to kill bed bugs and their eggs has been achieved.

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5/22/2011 Kansas At Start Of Bedbug Infestation: Experts Say

Some pest experts say Kansas is only seeing the beginning stages of a bed bug infestation.

Bed bugs are tiny terrors that can cause big problems.

“I thought it might be just a few, but I didn’t realize there would be that many of them,” said Howard, who didn’t want to provide his last name because he’s a little embarrassed about the bed bug infestation in his home.

The notorious hitchhikers made their way to Howard’s mattress by catching a ride on second-hand furniture.

“The adult bed bug is about the size of an apple seed,” said Kent Foley, owner of Arrest A Pest, Pest Solutions.

If the insects are old enough, they’re big enough to see, but usually they’re too young and too small.

“One of the things that makes control of bed bugs so difficult is because of their size and the early stages,” said Foley.

Foley suggests checking your sheets and around the box spring and mattress for bed bug feces and blood — signs that you have bed bugs.

“The blood stains are an indication of where the bites have happened on the person,” said Foley.

Recent research shows the blood-sucking bugs carrying the dangerous staph infection MRSA, but at this point, the pests have not been known to spread any diseases.

The best tool for controlling bed bugs in your home is the washer and dryer.  Exterminators suggest that when you come home from a trip or your child comes home from college to take the luggage directly to the laundry room.  They say washing and drying your clothes on the hottest setting will kill the bed bugs and their eggs.

It’s a precaution many college students are taking.

“When it comes down to it, you have easily hundreds of people in your room throughout the year and you don’t know what they’re bringing in and what they’re taking out,” said Martha Close, a student at Kansas State University.

If bed bugs do make it inside your home, early detection and treatment are key.  Experts advise against over-the-counter products to kill bed bugs saying they can actually make the infestation worse.  They suggest calling in the professionals.

Continue Reading More/Watching Video: Kansas At Start Of Bedbug Infestation