Posted on 09/14/2009 8:41:41 PM PDT by Steelfish
Bed Bug Infestations 'Increasing'
Cory Allen BBC News
he bed bug tends to breed at a very fast rate
There has been a massive increase in the number of bed bug infestations, according to a survey. Statistics from councils in London and the Midlands show the rate increased three-fold in the last decade. The figures were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Bed Bugs Limited, which says the insects "breed at a phenomenal rate". Bed bugs are insects that commonly hide in mattresses and carpets and in the crevices of furniture. They are a reddish-brown colour, oval-shaped insect that can grow to a quarter of an inch long. They cannot fly and survive by sucking blood from a host animal, mainly at night. There are distinct hotspots in highly populated areas, with lots of multi-occupancy housing where the bugs can easily spread from one household to another.
Bed bugs spread on clothes, bags and in furniture when it is moved. They do not choose a dirty home over a clean one - all they are interested in is your blood. Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases, but many people develop an itchy swelling when bitten
Check bed and furniture for black dots, which are bed bug faeces Check sheets for blood, as feeding bugs can be rolled on and squashed Microbiologist for Bed Bugs Limited, David Cain, said: "If exposed, anyone can bring them home and quickly have a problem, as they breed at a phenomenal rate."
It is thought that one of the reasons for the rise is increased travelling. There are corridors of infestations that radiate out from airports like Heathrow and Gatwick, which support the theory that bedbugs have been brought back to this country from countries where they have never been eradicated.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
I’ve heard the rise is due to hotels being unable to use DDT solutions in laundering.
Do we really have to say it?
DDT hasn't been used in laundering in recent history. The rise in infestation is traceable to immigrants and travelers returning from infested countries. You can decide for yourself which countries those might be.
I have managed to avoid them, but every day I see piles of mattresses out on the sidewalk waiting for pickup, so we have a problem here in the Fleabag Hotel District.
This has been an ongoing problem for the last 5-6 years in the student ghetto of Boston. Sub standard cleaning of housing..lots of immigrants..legal and illegal..and there is a major problem. If you want revenge on somebody..just infest them with bedbugs.
His stories about bed bugs are pretty bad. Here in Massachusetts there are sections of towns which are completely infested. The company he works for no longer does bed bug work. He said its just so hard to get people to co-operate with the required cleaning and storage of infested items. Items which are infested are thrown out but someone will come along and drag the stuff into their homes - instant infestation.
He told me a story about a well dressed woman who was in front of him at a convenience store line. He could see a bed bug on the back of her suit just about near her head. He brought it to her attention, of course she freaked out. Turns out she was a lawyer who had just returned from doing some pro-bono work at some hispanic outreach center or some such thing.
Also mentioned that many restaurant which are spotless have problems with people who work there bringing in bugs with them!
We used to not be a third world country.
Everything these days is racist. The fact you use the letters DDT...sounds racist.
Don’t tell Obama, or he’ll give them Amnesty!
That’s all we need... more democrats crawling around the place. ;-)
He purchased some poor quality furniture and a mattress from Big __ots. Seems they purchase from mfgs. who refurbish old mattress frames and sell them as new. That is were the infestions was in those frames.
I called our health dept, nothing they would do about it.
I’ve recently seen some cool video on youtube...apparently the preferred way to kill them now is with heat. They can’t survive an ambient temp above 125 degrees or so. You can actually hire people to run a heater into your home that ups the temp to about 140 degrees. The little monsters come out of the wood work, flop around and die.
We should try that with MSNBC...
I’ve read in newspapers the past few years of infestations at very expensive hotels, college dorms in NYC and Boston and even a case of people getting buggy NEW furniture because the store had apartments above it. They wait for a meal in headboards, behind picture frames, many places in addition to the mattress. The reports on Trip Advisor got to be so frequent, we bought a small camper so we could take our own bed with us when we travel!
Back when I was flying international they used to spray the cabins for bugs before landing. Haven’t flown international for 15 years. Do they still do that? If not, why not?
Link! Link!
Sounds like an interesting idea.
My buddy mentioned one problem is that they can lay dormant for some time, you think you have taken care of the problem and then it explodes again.
Laundry restrictions being prohibited - and proscribed? A part.
People and hygiene restrictions not being prohibited or inspected or trained? A bigger part.
I have read newspaper stories by people who had the nightmare of getting rid of them. Best to take precautions to prevent getting them in the first place. Only invite overnight guests if they are coming from their home, not if they are coming from a hotel.
Are ‘bedbug infestations’ covered in HR 3200?
I don’t remember DDT solutions being used for laundering by hotels, but I know that bed bugs are not easily eradicated by currently used chemicals. The past use of DDT by exterminators extinguished the bed bug problem in this country. Now that the exterminators can no longer use DDT and with so many foreigners coming to our country, the bed bug problem has returned.
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