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I’ve traveled the country with dogs for over 20 years, so I can honestly say I have slept in some not so swift rooms and some that have been oh-so-divine. Pet friendly, however, is not always what it’s cracked up to be, and if you’ve had a less-than-stellar experience at a supposed “pet friendly” establishment, you are nodding in agreement. How many of you, when calling a hotel or facility to ask if they are pet friendly ask something like this: “Hi. Can you tell me if you allow pets?” How many of you ask, “Hello, are you pet welcoming?”...

Motel guest says bedbugs put him in hospital. HAMPTON, Va. - A bedbug infestation at a Peninsula motel is so bad, it put a man in the hospital. Health department officials told WAVY.com it isn't a new problem. The Hampton Manor Motel sign claims to be host to the distinguished traveler, but they also appear to be host to bedbugs -- and not just one or two. "You don't see them, but you feel them," said Hampton resident Robert Malcolm. "You lay in bed and you might feel something. You wake up and there are about five or six on...

the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene headquarters, which cost taxpayers $316 million, is overrun by bed bugs. The building is 21 floors, and five of those are home to a bed bug infestation. That’s no shock, since the city itself has been ranked the worst in the nation when it comes to bed bugs. This is the second time in under a year that bed bugs have been found in the facility, which is only three years old. Critics say that the city is actually underreporting the problem ... Other major New York landmarks have become...

BENNINGTON, Vt. — An infestation of bedbugs has forced the temporary closure of a homeless shelter in Bennington, Vt. ... In the meantime, the women and children who would normally stay there are being placed in temporary locations, including motels

The man was using a space heater, a hair dryer and a heat gun to kill the pests at his southern New Jersey home when the blaze broke out

In mid-March, she was bitten by a Mohave rattlesnake just feet from her apartment while trying to save her cat. "You can feel it grip on. It's like cutting through butter. It grabbed my thumb and went down through the tendon. When it turned around it nicked me on the other side," said Wallace. The Mohave's venom put Wallace in a coma. She spent a total of nine days in the ICU and had to be readmitted to the hospital three more times. Wallace was left with no feeling in much of her hand. A few months prior Wallace told...

Why more patients share rooms with the blood-sucking pests. As if adapting to health-care reform and curbing the “nightmare bacteria” weren’t challenge enough, hospitals are increasingly plagued by another problem: Bedbugs. More than a third of pest management companies treated bedbug infestations in hospitals in 2012, 6% more than the year before and more than twice as many as in 2010, according to a survey released today by the National Pest Management Association. The percentage of exterminators dealing with bedbugs in nursing homes has also almost doubled since 2010, to 46%. Bedbug experts also report seeing them in ambulances. Hospitals...

Generations of Eastern European housewives doing battle against bedbugs spread bean leaves around the floor of an infested room at night. In the morning, the leaves would be covered with bedbugs that had somehow been trapped there. The leaves, and the pests, were collected and burned — by the pound, in extreme infestations. Now a group of American scientists is studying this bedbug-leaf interaction, with an eye to replicating nature’s Roach Motel. A study published Wednesday in The Journal of the Royal Society Interface details the scientists’ quest, including their discovery of how the bugs get hooked on the leaves,...

Recent advances in genomic and post-genomic technologies have facilitated a genome-wide analysis of the insecticide resistance-associated genes in insects. Through bed bug, Cimex lectularius transcriptome analysis, we identified 14 molecular markers associated with pyrethroid resistance. Our studies revealed that most of the resistance-associated genes functioning in diverse mechanisms are expressed in the epidermal layer of the integument, which could prevent or slow down the toxin from reaching the target sites on nerve cells, where an additional layer of resistance (kdr) is possible. This strategy evolved in bed bugs is based on their unique morphological, physiological and behavioral characteristics and has...

Bedbugs are on the rise again in the U.S., which means business is booming for pest control companies like Orkin. With increased travel, both internationally and domestically, and higher bedbug resistance to existing pesticides, Orkin has seen an almost 33 percent boost in bedbug business compared to 2011. The company has just released its rankings of U.S. cities in order of the number of bedbug treatments from January to December 2012. The “Windy City” of Chicago tops the list, followed by Detroit, Los Angeles, Denver and Cincinnati.

Slide show starts with #10.

Chicago has moved to the top spot of a list no city wants to be a part of: the most treatments for bed bug infestations. Pest control company Orkin said Tuesday it did more business in Chicago than any other city last year. Chicago had been second on the list in 2011 behind Cincinnati. ... Chicago in 2012 was ranked just ahead of Detroit, Los Angeles and Denver

A bedbug infestation at a Northwest Washington fire station left firefighters sleeping in their personal vehicles or in the firetrucks to avoid being bitten by the bugs in their bunkrooms, a report on the conditions at D.C. firehouses found. The 180-page report by the Office of the Inspector General details a wide swath of problematic conditions at D.C. fire stations across the city, including a lack of working smoke detectors, leaking roofs, flooded basements, rodent infestations and inoperable heating or cooling systems. Among the findings, 19 stations had significant rodent problems with one reporting that dead mice had been found...

One bed bug found crawling across a book has led to officials confirming the presence of the bloodthirsty, resilient creatures at the L.A. Central Library. There have been at least two separate sightings of lone bed bugs at the library

(CHARLOTTE, NC) The unethical treatment of bed bugs brought an estimated 500 angry sign-carrying protestors outside of the Time Warner Cable Arena at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Conventioneers have complained about the inordinate number of bedbugs under their mattresses in the Queen City. According to Susan Lunesta, spokesperson for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects (PITI), the Democratic National Committee has urged the indiscriminate use of chemicals to mass exterminate what most people call pests. “No bedbug should ever be killed,” said Lunesta. “It’s not their fault that they have been taken out of...

.........Hotels contacted by The Washington Times about bedbug reports either referred calls to their corporate headquarters or didn’t return messages. Charlotte has a long way to go before its bedbug levels approach cities such as New York, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., where recent infestations have made national news, but a study this year by pest control company Orkin shows activity there has been on the rise. The survey, released in March, rated Charlotte as having the 33rd-most bedbug reports of any city in 2011. The list was topped by Cincinnati, Chicago and Detroit. By contrast, the GOP’s choice for its...

DALLAS - Bedbugs live on the blood of mammals. They eat while you sleep. And they're dining on more North Texas apartment dwellers every year. "Sometimes I can't even get to bed at night," said Skyler Wells of the Park Timbers Apartments in Lewisville, who's had bedbugs in his apartment twice in the last four months. "I'm thinking they're crawling on me. I'm scratching myself. I'm taking three showers a night, because I'm thinking I'm gonna wash 'em all off me." Chris McGinn of City of Lewisville Code Compliance Department said bedbugs weren't even on the city's radar three years...

<p>Detroit's bus drivers has reportedly asked local lawmakers to put pressure on the transit agency to help stop the spread of bedbugs on buses.</p> <p>The Detroit News reports that roughly 50 Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) drivers have said they've seen bedbugs on buses, and some have been bitten within the past year, according to Henry Gaffney, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26.</p>

Philadelphia is the most bed bug infested city in the U.S. according to a new report, knocking New York City's two-year reign at the top. The 'City of Brotherly Love' jumped four places to number one this year according to the annual ranking by pest control company Terminix, reporting the highest service calls and confirmed cases in the country. New York has fallen to third place with Cincinnati keeping its second place title for the second year going.

With spring break coming up, travelers may want to make sure they don't pick up the souvenir no one plans to take home - bedbugs. Bedbug cases have been increasing dramatically over the past three or four years, said Dawn Gouge, entomologist and associate professor at the University of Arizona. "Pretty much everywhere where anyone goes on vacation is where you'll find bedbugs," said Gouge, noting that even travelers who stay at high-end resorts can be exposed to the parasites.