New England Bed Bug Forum

Recently with a plane shut down for what was thought to be the monkey pox virus, which turned out to be bed bug bites, there has been some questions as to if bed bugs can transmit diseases.  Here is the bed bug news on this subject.  Although bed bugs do carry 24 known pathogens, they are not known scientifically to be able to transmit any kind of diseases.  Bed bug bites won’t make you sick by giving you monkey pox, aids, malaria, or any other known blood transmitted disease. Though not known to carry diseases, bed bugs can substantially reduce quality of life by causing discomfort, sleeplessness, anxiety, and embarrassment. According to some health experts, the added stress from living with bed bugs can have a significant impact on the emotional health and well-being of certain individuals.

Mosquitoes, though, can carry diseases, such as malaria and West Nile disease, which can be transmitted to humans.

It’s not known why bed bugs can’t transmit diseases to humans by their bites when mosquitoes can.  They both have the same kind of blood sucking process in which they feed.  Bed bugs pierce their human victims skin and inject an anesthetic and coagulant into the person’s blood stream. That means the person will not feel anything while the bedbug then inserts a tiny tube into the person’s bloodstream and starts sipping a small quantity of the sleeping person’s blood which comes out of the person slowly because of the effect of the coagulant. Mosquitoes feed on humans in the same way as bed bugs.

So, in closing, its not to say there are no worries about being bitten by bed bugs and getting a disease, because you never really know.  But, science, for now says you can’t get any diseases from bed bug bites….hopefully science is right.  Still if I had a bed bug problem come up I would have it inspected and exterminated immediately.  Who wants to get bitten by bed bugs for one and do you really want to take a chance that science is wrong?

Given the craze for the movie series Twilight, what would you say if I told you that you could buy an insurance policy to protect yourself from nocturnal blood suckers?   Honest. Though it is a new Insurance product recently developed to address the costs associated with eradicating bed bug infestations that are rapidly spreading across America.

While driving recently in the Cincinnati area, I noticed a billboard advertising Bed Bug Extermination and was reminded at that moment that Cincinnati was the #1 city in America for bed bugs — New York is #9 and Connecticut is in the top 40 for bed bug problems according to a published list of worst infestations in 2011.  After a sudden urge to scratch an itch and a brief discussion with my colleagues, I learned that a client of ours recently had submitted a claim — that was paid — involving a bed bug infestation in a doctor office waiting room. This was a first for me as a Loss Control Consultant.

Infestations of any kind – bugs, cockroaches or rats- typically are excluded from commercial and personal lines insurance policies, and so is the cost of eradicating pests. This has always been viewed as maintenance expense, meaning it was not covered by your insurance policy.

With the bed bugs infestations spreading in U.S. hotels, motels, apartments, dorms, doctor’s offices, libraries, retail establishments, movie theatres, and homes, insurance companies are starting to take notice.  And when there’s a demand for a product – no matter how outlandish – someone will likely supply it. So, little crawly creatures have spawned a new enterprise for insurance companies.

Unlike those other blood-thirsty parasites – head lice – bedbugs are extremely hard to eradicate once they infest, and those costs can be high. The expense to exterminate these bugs from your bedding, cracks in walls, headboards, seams of lampshades, carpet joins, furniture, and electrical outlets can range anywhere from $400 for a single room to several thousands dollars for an entire house.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an extra couple of grand lying around just to pay somebody to come in to hunt down, treat, and erradicate bed bugs.

So early intervention is important and being a good loss control consultant, I would encourage people to pay a little extra attention to checking the mattress, headboard and box spring every time you change your sheets. If you are a business owner or manager your staff should be trained to recognize an infestation. If you happen to find one or two bedbugs early on, it is a lot less expensive and easier to treat than an infestation that has been running rampant for months.

These new bed bug infestation claims are starting to bring on a host of allegations from bodily injury, property damage, and even mental anguish. The financial damage doesn’t just include the extermination expense but also loss of income, and expenses from “managing the crisis.” For a business owner, lost time is money and is normally an un-insurable loss to you, so imagine how much time you would have to spend rebuilding your reputation as a business owner after an infestation. It would be rather overwhelming.

One carrier offering bed bug insurance has even included a 24/7 crisis hotline, and the services of an expert team to deal with regulators, public health authorities, customers, employees, and the press.

In time I speculate that we will see such coverage become mandatory from insurance carriers, as legislators are already starting to lining up to force carriers to offer it.   In addition to this recent increasing demand from lawmakers, hoteliers and property owners are starting to ask for some form of protection too.

Bed bug Infestation occurs because female bug will lay up to 5 eggs per day and they can very quickly multiply while you rest comfortably. They are nocturnal, elusive and hard to spot. They resemble little tiny apple seeds in size and color, unless you have had a few that take up residency in your home for any extended period of time and in that case, they can grow up ½ inch long in size.

Aside from bite symptoms, signs include fecal spots, blood smears on sheets, and molts ie, eggs. Although bed bugs can live for a year without feeding, they normally try to feed every five to ten days. But that is exactly what makes it so difficult to get ride of these nasty creatures. You may think you’re rid of them only to find that they return weeks later.

Hotels on average today will spend about $600 to $800 per room to eradicate bedbugs, but this says nothing about the lost income if an infestation becomes public knowledge. With social media and websites today such as www.bedbugregistry.com, a business can be severely impacted financially.

According to the CDC, “Bed bugs have been found in five-star hotels and resorts and their presence is not determined by the cleanliness of the living conditions where they are found.”

But I say tell that to Little Johnny’s mother when your son happens to invite Johnny over to spend the night, or just play Xbox. Having bedbugs can be stigma that follows your family or your place of business for a long time, so be aware, be proactive and ask your insurance agent about coverage.

A rash thought be monkey pox that turned out to be bed bug bites has caused a two-hour quarantine of a Delta plane in Chicago Thursday may have been the work of bed bugs, not the monkey pox virus health officials feared.

The itchy passenger was Lise Sievers of Red Wing, Minn., a 50-year-old woman returning home from Uganda, where she was working to adopt two children. Sievers noticed the rash and told her mother, who got worried and called health officials in Indiana.

“It’s just a case of bed bugs,” Sievers told ABC News affiliate WLS after exiting the plane. “I think I’m going to empty a jar of bed bugs on my mom’s bed tonight.”

Other passengers aboard Flight 3163 feared the worst as officers wearing Hazmat suits studied the rash, sending photos to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta.

Imagine pass angers dismay of thinking they were exposed to monkey pox….when the person on the plane had bed bug bites.
Even though the passengers on the plane weren’t exposed to this deadly virus, they may still have been exposed to bed bugs on their persons and luggage.

“They didn’t tell us very much at all,” one passenger told WLS, describing a scene that could have come from the movie “Contagion.” “When they come on in masks and gloves, you think the worst.”

Monkey pox is a rare and sometimes fatal disease similar to smallpox that occurs mostly in central and western Africa. It’s contracted through contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids, and can spread among humans through fluids and contaminated clothes or bedding, according to the CDC.

The monkey pox rash consists of raised, fluid-filled bumps, and is usually accompanied by fever, headache and lymph node swelling. Bed bug bites, on the other hand, cause a swollen and red area that may or may not be itchy, without the other symptoms.

Sievers, who was sitting near the bathroom on the plane, recalled the worried looks from other passengers when it became clear she was the cause of the quarantine.

“You could see them thinking, ‘Is it safe to use the bathroom?’” she told WLS.

After studying the rash and searching for other signs of infectious disease, health officials released Sievers and her fellow passengers.

“Medical staff at CDC and the Chicago Department of Public Health reviewed the case and, based on the patient’s symptoms and photographs of the rash, it does not appear that the signs and symptoms are consistent with a monkey pox infection,” the CDC said in a statement. “The ill passenger was advised to seek medical care and the rest of the passengers were released from the plane.”

Dr. Donald Henderson, a professor of medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh and former director of the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, said the quarantine was an unusual and unhelpful move.

“In the exceptional circumstance in which a passenger with a serious transmissible disease is discovered on a plane, the best course of action would be to explain to the passengers what the disease might be and to give them instructions to contact their physicians and to call a designated CDC emergency number should they develop any one of a number of symptoms,” he said. “The worst thing that can be done is to spread alarm and concern, delay air travel, and publicly exercise an array of unnecessary emergency measures.”

Dr. Martin Cetron, director of quarantine for the CDC, said health officials board planes to investigate possible infectious diseases upward of 40 times a month. The flights are usually delayed only a few minutes, and passengers might not even be aware of it. But two or three times a year there is a significant delay, like the one at Chicago Midway, he said.

After two agonizing hours on the tarmac, passengers were happy to learn that the rash was not the result of something more serious.

“Of course, you’re relieved when they say it is just a case of bug bites,” passenger Kayla Sanders told WLS.

Yes we understand the relief of a very bad situation turning into a case of the bed bugs but, people still will have to have their luggage and bodies inspected for bed bugs and possibly some bed bug treatments may be needed.

Should the airline be responsible for any associated bed bug problems these poor people face because of this?

Are bed bug problems going to go away in New York?

Make no mistake, the irritating little critters are still crawling all over the place. But new numbers obtained by NBC New York suggest the panic has subsided and the battle against the blood-sucking critters is headed in the right direction.

Complaints to the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development are down 12 percent, from 9,029 in this fiscal year to date, compared with 10,241 for the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Violations against landlords are down 19 percent., from 3,559 to 2,893. And bedbug-related calls to 311 are down 17 percent, from 8,736 to 7,245. The fiscal year begins in July.

One Lower Manhattan resident, who asked not to be identified, recently hired a bug-sniffing dog to confirm that in fact, he and his wife do have bedbugs.

But he said that after researching what to do, they decided they don’t need to spend thousands of dollars or throw away their clothes. High heat dryers can treat the bedding. And a thorough cleaning and inspection can manage the rest.

The tenant added, “I liken it to a mosquito bite — which are nagging but it’s not the end of the world.”

Of course, not everyone feels that way.

You can still find thousands of New Yorkers creeped out by the tenaciously hungry insects, and other experts predict another bedbug boom this summer, following the mildest winter in years.

Still, for the first time in awhile, the numbers at least seem to be heading ever so slightly in the right direction.

It may seem that bed bug problems may go away in New York but, remember we had a mild winter and with temperatures on the rise, the bed bugs will be back for blood.

K-9, canine dogs have an amazing sense of smell, that when trained right are able to sniff out bed bugs, bed bug larvae, and bed bug infestations.

A K-9’s or canines nose not only dominates their face, but their brain, as well. In fact, a K-9 relies on their sense of smell to interpret their world by sniffing, in much the same way as people depend on their sight.

In order to understand how great a K-9’s olfactory ability to sniff out bed bugs we can compare it to a person’s nose.

Inside the nose of both species are bony scroll-shaped plates, called turbinates, over which air passes. A microscopic view of this organ reveals a thick, spongy membrane that contains most of the scent-detecting cells, as well as the nerves that transport information to the brain. In humans, the area containing these odor analyzers is about one square inch, or the size of a postage stamp. If you could unfold this area in a dog, on the other hand, it may be as large as 60 square inches, or just under the size of a piece of typing paper.

Though the size of this surface varies with the size and length of the dog’s nose, even flat-nosed breeds can detect smells far better than people. Specialized .K-9’s or canines trained to sniff out bed bugs can have over 300,000 million scent receptors compared ot a human having only 5 million.

A dog’s brain is also specialized for identifying scents. The percentage of the dog’s brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is actually 40 times larger than that of a human! It’s been estimated that dogs can identify smells somewhere between 1,000 to 10,000 times better than nasally challenged humans can.

For thousands of years K-9’s or canine dogs have been known to have an amazing sense of smell due to the millions of smell receptors located in their noses. K-9 dogs have been used for hunting by early man through out the ages. These canines have been know to be able to help track down prey from miles away, enabling their handlers/masters to find their quarry in order to hunt it. K-9 dogs have and are still used to sniff out or track scents, such as escaped prisoners in order to find them. The dogs are able to lock onto the scent of clothing and sniff out where the escapes or missing persons are located. These dogs are called blood hounds. K-9 dogs are also used for finding dead bodies that are buried. The canines can be trained to lock on to the specific smell of a decomposing corpse and sniff out where it is buried or located. These dogs can easily detect the hidden body from smell, where as, a human can’t smell a thing. Many a K-9 has helped solve an unsolved disappearance or murder just by using it’s nose.

Recently, in the last decade or so, K-9 dogs have been found out to have the ability to sniff out bed bugs, bed bug larvae, and bed bug infestations. The smell receptors on the .K-9 dog’s noses are so much more advanced than human noses that they are able to even pinpoint where the bed bug infestation is located.

K-9’s or canines are the best possible solution for sniffing out bed bug infestations and pinpointing where they are located.

According to ABC News, an annual study is out that depicts our nations top 50 bed bug hot spots in the US for 2012.  New york City is still in the top 10 for bed bug infestations with New Haven and Hartford Connecticut making the list also.

And the winner of the top bed bug hotspot in the US for 2012 … is Cincinnati.  Chicago is ranked second, followed by Detroit, Denver and Los Angeles.  The report says L.A. moved from 25th to fifth on the list.

Here are the top 50 U.S. cities, ranked in order of the number of bed bug treatments.  The number in parenthesis is the shift in ranking compared to January to December 2010:

1. Cincinnati
2. Chicago
3. Detroit (+1)
4. Denver (+2)
5. Los Angeles (+20)
6. Columbus, Ohio (-3)
7. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (+43)
8. Washington, D.C. (-3)
9. New York (-2)
10. Richmond/Petersburg, Va. (+6)
11. Houston (-1)
12. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Calif. (+35)
13. Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio (+1)
14. Boston (+4)
15. Dayton, Ohio (-7)
16. Las Vegas (-1)
17. Honolulu (+55)
18. Baltimore (-6)
19. Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, N.C. (+9)
20. Philadelphia (-9)
21. Atlanta (+24)
22. Lexington, Ky. (-13)
23. Syracuse, N.Y. (+25)
24. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (+27)
25. Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colo. (+19)
26. San Diego (+13)
27. Seattle/Tacoma, Wash. (-3)
28. Omaha, Neb. (-11)
29. Buffalo, N.Y. (-16)
30. Pittsburgh (-3)
31. Indianapolis (-12)
32. Milwaukee (+6)
33. Charlotte, N.C. (+13)
34. Phoenix (+19)
35. Louisville, Ky. (-3)
36. Hartford/New Haven, Conn. (-16)
37. Grand Junction/Montrose, Colo. (+30)
38. Knoxville, Tenn. (+4)
39. Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Mich. (-17)
40. Nashville, Tenn. (+15)
41. Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Calif. (+24)
42. Des Moines/Ames, Iowa (-13)
43. Salisbury, Md. (+46)
44. Albany/Schenectady/Troy, N.Y. (-23)
45. Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa (-22)
46. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. (-20)
47. Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney, Neb. (-17)
48. Salt Lake City (-8)
49. Charleston/Huntington, W.Va. (-13)
50. West Palm Beach/Ft. Pierce, Fla. (+6)

According to  Scott Dance of The Baltimore Sun

In July 2010, Adarien Jackson’s 6-year-old son, Kaden, began complaining of itchy bumps on his ankles. They soon turned into a rash and spread to his back, behind his ear, and on his eyelid.

The child’s pediatrician and dermatologists tried allergy drugs, diet changes, oils and oatmeal baths. But it wasn’t until months later that Jackson discovered the cause of the problem. Kaden’s twin brother, Kyler, began waking in the middle of the night, crying out, “Bugs are crawling on me!”

Jackson realized her sons’ beds — which she had recently purchased from a furniture store in Elkridge — were teeming with bedbugs, according to a lawsuit she filed in Anne Arundel County in December 2010.

On Thursday, a jury ordered Calidad Furniture & Linen Inc., the store that sold Jackson a pair of wood-frame beds, to pay Jackson and her sons $225,000 for the ordeal. It is one of the largest bedbug liability judgments in the country.

Multimillion-dollar lawsuits over bedbugs have become increasingly common as infestations have spread across the country and victims seek to hold landlords, hotels and retailers responsible for their exterminator bills and mental anguish.

But a public judgment is rare in bedbug liability cases. Lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages have received publicity in recent years, such as several filed against the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. But most fade away with confidential settlements.

Jackson had visited Calidad in June 2010, as she prepared to move into a home she had recently purchased from her mother in Severn, the lawsuit says. She picked out bunk beds, mattresses and bedding for her sons and had them delivered to the suburban two-story home.

Two men arrived at the house a week later, in a truck bearing the Calidad name. They assembled the beds side by side, according to the lawsuit. The mattresses were loosely wrapped in plastic, and Jackson asked the delivery men to leave the plastic on to protect the mattresses from the occasional bed-wetting incident, the lawsuit says.

Within weeks, Jackson took Kaden to a pediatrician, who didn’t think the bumps and rashes on the child looked like insect bites. Concerned that it could be an allergic reaction from the plastic wrapping, Jackson removed it from the mattresses, the lawsuit says. The bumps began to spread up Kaden’s legs and back, and he was given Benadryl and prednisone to treat what everyone thought was allergies.

Jackson once noticed a small brown insect on the floor of her sons’ rooms while vacuuming but thought nothing of it. Once Kyler began complaining of crawling bugs, though, she became suspicious, the lawsuit says. She discovered the bugs at 2 a.m. one night in early October.

When Jackson and her mother later flipped the mattresses to inspect them, clumps of bedbugs were present on the underside and fell off, said Daniel Whitney, Jackson’s lawyer.

Jackson could not be reached for comment Friday.

Calidad fought Jackson’s claims, at first denying her a refund and then seeking to settle after the lawsuit had been filed, said Gary Huggins, a Frederick lawyer who previously represented Calidad.

After the store went out of business early this year, Huggins said, he and Calidad signed an agreement with Jackson, giving up any defense of the lawsuit and leaving the damages up to the jury. But last month, lawyers for Calidad’s insurer moved onto the case.

They argued that the court filings Huggins and Calidad made admitting responsibility for the bedbugs were invalid, but a judge rejected the argument. Michael DeSantis, lawyer for the store’s insurer, could not be reached for comment, nor could Salah Alaboura, president of Calidad.

A jury of six women deliberated for 30 minutes before finding in favor of Jackson.

Jackson had only sought $150,000 in damages. That an Anne Arundel County jury raised the stakes is rare, Whitney said. County juries are known for being conservative with damage awards, he said.

Jackson’s award is the second-largest known to Whitney or Tom Campbell, an Alabama attorney who takes a large number of bedbug cases. In what is thought to be one of the largest judgments of bedbug liability, two siblings who sued a Motel 6 in Chicago were awarded $382,000 in 2002.

Campbell said he thinks part of the reason the bedbug “epidemic” persists is that few property owners, hoteliers and other targets of bedbug lawsuits are willing to spend the thousands of dollars it takes to eradicate the pests.

“They’re more interested in getting rid of complainers than getting rid of bedbugs,” Campbell said. “Until that attitude changes, those groups are just going to be spreading the problem rather than helping achieve a cure.”

For their part, property owners and managers, schools, hospitals and retailers are being encouraged to be vigilant about bedbugs. The National Pest Management Association suggests retailers develop policies for regular inspections, and isolate and examine returned items, spokeswoman Missy Henriksen said.

In the meantime, the problem is creating plenty of business for lawyers like Whitney and Campbell.

“I’d rather see this problem cured than create an additional source of revenue for plaintiffs’ lawyers like me,” Campbell said.

The Entomological Society of America’s Eastern Branch Annual Meeting will be held March 16-19, 2012 at the Hilton Hartford Hotel

“Bed bugs are coming back. Are you ready?” asks Dr. Changlu Wang, Rutgers University entomologist and organizer of the Bed Bug and Urban Integrated Pest Management symposium. Bed bugs have become problematic pests of schools, houses, apartments and other public spaces.

Noted bed bug researchers and educators will discuss innovative bed bug control and education methods developed by leading researchers and educators in a symposium to be held on Sunday morning, March 18, from 8:00 am-12:00 noon, at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America in Hartford, CT (see http://bit.ly/z3Lt2h).

Brown marmorated stinkbugs, first reported in Pennsylvania in the late 1990’s seem to be everywhere are everywhere we live, plus fields, orchards and vineyards. These insect emit a foul-smelling substance that can taint produce, and their feeding damages crops. Their growing populations have caused significant economic impact on agriculture.

Two symposia will discuss the latest findings on stink bug biology and trends in attempts to control these insects. “Managing Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Today and in the Future” will discuss the insect’s impact on vegetable crops and urban landscapes, and methologies to control it. This symposium will be held on Sunday afternoon, March 18 from 1:00-5:00 pm. A symposium on brown marmorated stink bug biology and crop impact will be held on Monday morning, 8:00-12:00 pm, March 19.

These symposia will headline the ESA Eastern Branch’s 83rd Annual Meeting, to be held March 16-19, 2012, at the Hilton Hartford. The three-day meeting will draw entomologists from northeastern and mid-Atlantic states and several Canadian provinces. Other symposia will feature papers on biological control, insects as vectors of human and plant disease, and detection of new and emerging insect pests. Graduate and undergraduate students throughout the eastern region will compete in oral and poster presentations about their research.

Growers, crop consultants, landscapers and other interested members of the public can attend the symposia with a half day ($40) or full day ($60) admission.

The meeting will include a free public program for all ages, “It’s a Bug’s World” (see http://bit.ly/xeTfIN). This event will be held on Saturday, March 17 from 10:00 am-3:00 pm at the Hilton Hartford. “Bug’s World” will feature informational displays, demonstrations and activities, and a pollinator talk and honey tasting with the 2012 American Honey Princess, Danielle Dale.

The full meeting Program

The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world dedicated to the science, magic, and mystery of the world’s most abundant life form – insects. With more than 6,000 active members, the ESA helps to promote understanding of insects and solve world problems associated with them, including world hunger, disease prevention, and urban pest control. ESA is a 501c(3) not-for-profit membership society headquartered in Lanham, MD.

For more information about the Entomological Society’s program, or for a press pass, contact Faith Kuehn, Delaware Department of Agriculture at (302) 698-4587 or Faith.Kuehn@state.de.us. The Hilton Hartford is located at 315 Trumbull St., Hartford, CT 06103, telephone 860-728-5151.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF LANDLORDS AND TENANTS REGARDING BED BUG INFESTATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2012) (a) As used in this section: (1) “Certified applicator” means an individual who is certified in accordance with section 22a-54 of the general statutes by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to perform application within this state of a pesticide or class of pesticides; (2) “bed bug” means the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius); (3) “reasonable measures” means those methods commonly used and accepted as being effective for eliminating or controlling bed bug infestations; and (4) “landlord”, “owner”, “person” and “tenant” shall have the same meanings as in section 47a-1 of the general statutes.

(b) No landlord shall offer for rent a dwelling unit that the landlord knows or reasonably suspects is infested with bed bugs. Before renting a dwelling unit, a landlord shall disclose to a prospective tenant, fully and accurately, whether the unit the landlord is offering for rent or any adjacent unit is currently infested with bed bugs or has been treated for such infestation in the twelve months preceding the disclosure. Upon request from a tenant or prospective tenant, a landlord shall disclose the last date on which the dwelling unit being rented or offered for rent was inspected for a bed bug infestation and the results of such inspection.

(c) Upon request by a landlord, any prospective tenant shall disclose in writing whether such prospective tenant is vacating a dwelling unit that is infested with bed bugs. Before a prospective tenant takes occupancy of a dwelling unit offered for rent by a landlord, the landlord may require any prospective tenant who is vacating a dwelling unit that is infested with bed bugs to take reasonable measures to prevent the bed bugs from being transferred to the dwelling unit being offered for rent, including, but not limited to, requiring the prospective tenant to (1) wash and dry at high heat clothing and other possessions for which such treatment is appropriate, and (2) present proof of treatment by a certified applicator of all furnishings, bedding and other items that may not be laundered.

(d) (1) A tenant shall promptly notify a landlord when the tenant knows or reasonably suspects that the tenant’s dwelling unit is infested with bed bugs. A landlord shall conduct an inspection of a dwelling unit not later than five days after receiving such notice and may enter a dwelling unit in accordance with section 47a-16 of the general statutes for the purpose of conducting such inspection. Such inspection may only include a visual and manual examination of the tenant’s bedding and upholstered furniture. If the landlord determines that the dwelling unit is infested with bed bugs, the landlord shall, not later than ten days after the date of the landlord’s inspection, employ a certified applicator who carries current liability insurance to conduct a second inspection. Such certified applicator may, upon reasonable notice to the tenant, enter the tenant’s dwelling and inspect the tenant’s personal belongings to the extent necessary to determine the extent of the infestation and the method by which to control such infestation.

(2) A tenant shall undertake, at the tenant’s expense, all reasonable measures to eliminate and control a bed bug infestation that are requested by the certified applicator employed by the landlord. If, in the opinion of a certified applicator or a housing code enforcement official, a method used to control or eliminate the bed bug infestation renders a dwelling unit temporarily unsafe for habitation, the tenant shall vacate the dwelling unit for the length of time prescribed by such certified applicator or official. The landlord shall abate the tenant’s rent accordingly but shall not be liable to the tenant for damages. (A large portion of the time, the tenant’s apartment may be of such condition such as excess items (clutter) are present where elimination of the beg bugs cannot be performed and cooperation from the tenant is nonexistent.)

(3) A landlord shall undertake, at the landlord’s expense, all reasonable measures to identify, eliminate and control a bed bug infestation that are requested by the certified applicator employed by the landlord. A landlord may, at the landlord’s discretion, offer financial assistance to a tenant who is not otherwise able to afford to undertake the reasonable measures required under subdivision (2) of this subsection. If the tenant agrees to receive such assistance, then the landlord may charge the tenant the cost of the reasonable measures on a repayment schedule not to exceed six months, except that the landlord and tenant may agree to a longer repayment term.

(e) (1) The failure of a landlord to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute a violation of subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of section 47a-7 of the general statutes for which the landlord shall be liable for damages pursuant to section 47a-12 of the general statutes.

(2) A landlord may apply to the Superior Court to obtain injunctive relief to compel any tenant who (A) refuses to provide reasonable access to a dwelling unit, (B) fails to comply with reasonable requests for inspection or treatment of a dwelling unit, or (C) fails to implement reasonable measures requested by a certified applicator. The landlord may recover actual damages, including any costs incurred as a result of the tenant’s failure to provide reasonable access to a dwelling unit or implement reasonable measures, and reasonable attorney’s fees. Any order granting a landlord access to a dwelling unit must be served upon the tenant at least twenty-four hours before the landlord or a certified applicator employed by the landlord enters the dwelling unit. (F) The remedies in this section shall be in addition to any other remedies available at law, or in equity, to any person. This section shall not be construed to limit or restrict the authority of any state or local housing code enforcement agency.

{
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1    October 1, 2012    New section}

Statement of Purpose:
To establish landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities regarding bed bug infestations in rental housing.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]

PENN State -  As bed bugs continue to be a growing problem in apartment buildings, dorm rooms, hotels, hospitals and homes across the country, a new treatment method is proving to be effective and less disruptive for students at Penn State University.

Whole room heat treatment is changing the way they treat for bed bugs in campus residence halls, said David Manos, assistant director of housing at Penn State.

“Previously, once a case was confirmed, the room would be quarantined and it would be treated with combinations of chemicals and heat treatments for individual items. All clothing and bedding would have to be run through the dryer, and the student would be displaced for a minimum of 21 days. It was very labor intensive, typically one room would require 20-30 hours of time, as well as very disruptive to the student,” says Manos.

Last fall, John Parks of Parks Pest Control in State College and the Centre Region Bed Bug Coalition, approached Manos about an alternative treatment for bed bugs. Parks had recently purchased a whole room heat treatment unit with four heaters and Manos expressed interest in trying it out.

“With whole room heat treatment, the entire room and all contents are heated to 130 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit,” Parks explains. “Bed bugs will die instantly at those temperatures. We use remote thermometers that can be monitored on laptops to make sure all areas of the room reach the right temperature.” The heaters will automatically shut off at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, so no damage will be caused to the contents of the room.

Manos says it the new treatment method eliminates the use of chemicals to treat bed bugs completely and lessens the impact on students. “Typically the student can move back into the room within 24 hours, and they don’t have to move their belongings and treat everything separately.”

Depending on the degree of infestation, adjacent rooms will be inspected. Despite careful inspections by the housing staff and posted information about bed bugs and other educational efforts, bed bug cases at Penn State have almost quadrupled this school year, up from four cases last year to 17 so far this year.

“Without the new treatment program, it would have been very difficult to keep up. The collaboration between Parks and Penn State’s contracted pesticide control operator has resulted in big advantages to the students and the Penn State community,” says Manos. “There is no silver bullet for bed bugs; the best deterrent is still education. If barriers fail however, whole room heat treatments are vital to prevent the spread of bed bugs. It’s been the best answer at Penn State, and probably the best answer for the community.”

Information on effective bed bug management in multiple environments can be found at the Pennsylvania IPM Program’s bed bug resource web page.