New England Bed Bug Forum

Bed bugs are one of the only animals on our planet known to get stronger by inbreeding.  A recent study has come to terms that bed bugs are fighting back against us humans by inbreeding.

New research on the bed bug’s ability to withstand the genetic bottleneck of inbreeding, recently announced at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting, provides new clues to explain the rapidly growing problem of bed bugs across the United States and globally. After mostly disappearing in the US in the 1950s, the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has reappeared with a vengeance over the past decade. These stubborn pests have developed a resistance to the insecticides, known as pyrethroids, commonly used against them.

One of the newly discovered factors that appears to be contributing to the bed bugs’ effective infestation is their ability to establish new infestations through inbreeding. Coby Schal, PhD, and Ed Vargo, PhD, both entomologists at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and colleagues carried out two studies now under peer-review examining the genetics of bed bugs from three multi-story apartment buildings in North Carolina and New Jersey, and determined that there were high levels of relatedness within each apartment and very low genetic diversity within each building, indicating that infestations start from just one or two introductions of the insect. Being able to withstand a very high level of inbreeding — i.e., still produce healthy offspring — allows the bed bug infestation to expand to other apartments within the building.

Another study by this team confirmed this same conclusion based on a study of 21 bed bug infestations from Maine to Florida in the US, nearly all of which came from single rooms within homes. “Inbreeding gives bed bugs an advantage in being able to colonize,” said Schal. “A single female that has been mated is able to colonize and start a new infestation. Her progeny and brothers and sisters can then mate with each other, exponentially expanding the population. With many organisms, extensive inbreeding would cause serious mutations that would eventually bring about an end to the population.” He also noted that cockroach populations are also able to survive inbreeding.

A major strategic advantage that we might want to explore in this bed bug fight, and it may seem unproductive at this time, but may pay a huge benifit in the future is to introduce female bed bugs into the mix that do not have a resistance to any chemicals.  This would, in theory, create colonies of bed bugs that do not have any resistance to our extermination procedures or chemicals.

Until then, there is really only one proven and effective way to kill bed bugs and that is heat.

Bed bugs invade Tampa fire station: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

Bed Bugs have invaded another firehouse, this time in Tampa, Florida.  Bed bugs have been spreading all around the US, invading homes, businesses, government buildings, and firehouses.  Makes you think why are bed bugs invading these fire houses?  Well one simple explanation is that when fire fighters go to a call in which a house is on fire the heat from the fire causes the bed bugs to come out and find a means of escape.  Bed bugs can easily develop resistance against pesticides, such as DDT but this is not possible against heat.  Heat, especially from a fire is a bed bugs worst enemy.

My thinking is that the bed bugs can feel the heat from the fire and escape on the first human body that is around.  That being a firefighter or his equipment.  Fire fighters need to be ever vigilant when going out on a call that they take precautions on returning to the fire station.

Fire fighters should launder their clothes before or as soon as these items are brought back into the fire station.  All equipment should be stored in a central location where it can be cleaned and inspected for bed bugs.  If bed bugs are present, any equipment that can be treated with heat should be done at this time.  Any equipment that is heat sensitive or can not fit into a heating chamber or dryer should be wiped down with rubbing alchohol.

Avoiding Bed Bugs This Holiday Season While Flying

With the holiday season upon us a lot of people will be traveling to their families homes by airplane.  What a great way to pick up bed bugs and bring them to your relatives houses.  I am sure that a bed bug infestation is not the gift you want to be remembered as giving.  Here are some precautions you can take to help lower your chance of bringing bed bugs to you relatives homes by airplane.

1.  Bring your own pillow and blanket. In Zane Selkirk’s horrific experience, it was the blanket “crawling with bed bugs” that caught her eye. It doesn’t have to get that extreme, though, to suggest it’s best to beware airline blankets. After all, during last year’s H1N1 flu epidemic, many airlines pulled the blankets fearing they could transmit the virus. Pack a travel pillow (inflatable if you’re tight for space) and a blanket or pashmina shawl. Or just dress in warm layers instead.

2.  Plastic Bag Your Carry On Since it’s way to easy for bed bugs to slip into your carry on while it’s stored under your seat. The best way to prevent this happening is to encase it in a plastic bag, such as a shopping bag or kitchen-sized garbage bag.

3.  Stop bed bugs before they get in your house.   The real problem with bed bugs isn’t when they bite you en route (the bites heal quickly and don’t cause any lasting damage), it’s when they come home with you and set up housekeeping in your home. The way to keep this from happening is with stringent preventive measures. Don’t bring luggage or carry-on’s inside your home, but empty them outside and wash clothes and anything else that’s washable. A hot dryer will also kill bed bugs, so dry anything you don’t want to wash. Put the suitcase and bag itself in a plastic bag and store for two weeks.

We at New England Bed Bug Forum wish you and your families a happy, safe, and bed bug free holiday season.

Bed bugs are a complex pest to rid from a home, business, hotel, or motel room.

Good pest control operatives, bed bug management companies, bed bud inspection teams, and bed bug exterminator’s, for the most part, have a view in common.  They all want to be able to not only control your bed bug problem but, to exterminate it in it’s entirety.

Let’s face it. If you like your job, have integrity in what you do, and most of all care about your clients you have a point of view on the way things should be run, how you should perform, and the results you should be able to accomplish. This is true in any business, including bed bug extermination. Bed bugs are a very complex and emotional issue, whoever you deal with to help you rid yourself of these nasty creatures should realize this whole-hardheartedly.

A bed bug exterminator’s first step is to listen to what is happening in your home or business so that they can asses the situation.  They need to ascertain what the situation is before making a decision on how to proceed.  In some instances they may know right off the bat what is needed to be done to exterminate your bed bug infestation.  In most instances, good bed bug exterminator’s will advise an inspection to figure out where the bed bug problem lies and to what extent the infestation is.  A human inspection for bed bugs is not good enough.  Humans can only detect and pinpoint bed bugs with about 26% accuracy.  If you call a bed bug exterminator and they say they will send over a person to inspect, especially for free, hang up.  This is a sales tactic, not so honest exterminator’s use.  In most cases the human inspector will find bed bug issues everywhere in order to pad the extermination bill.  A bed bug dog is the way to go if your exterminator’s point of view is to kill off your problem in it’s entirety.  A bed bug dog is about 96% accurate in ascertaining if you have issues relating to these parasites in you dwelling or business.  A couple of the best things when taking  your pest control operative’s advice is that having this dog inspection will not only help in verifying this bed bug problem, the dog will most likely be able to pinpoint where the issues are.

As a businessman and a person I like to be able to sleep at night with a clear conscience.  With that being said how could I or any reputable bed bug exterminator,  in their view, advise to either come in with a bunch of chemicals or have a human inspect for bed bugs.  The accuracy is almost half as less as flipping a coin if you have a bed bug problem or not.

Any conscience-wise bed bug exterminator’s point of view is to know, first off, if there is a bed bug infestation in the first place and where it is.

When someone gives you their point of view, it usually comes from experience,  Your bed bug exterminator’s point of view is very important, because you will be able to tell, by this, how your bed bug problem will be solved.

If you are a building manager, property manager, or landlord this is a good reason to stay on top of any bed bug infestations reported to you by your tenants. If you do not take care of the bed bug problem promptly and in an efficient manner it could hit you where it counts, your wallet.

The Baltimore Daily Record reported on October 17th that the Baltimore City Circuit Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff when former tenant Kristen Saunders sued her former building’s owners and operators for negligence, claiming they did not treat for bed bugs promptly.

Kristen Y. Saunders said it took managers of her apartment building 48 days to fumigate her apartment infested with bedbugs, leading to a plaintiff’s verdict in the first case of its type in Baltimore.

A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury awarded Saunders $40,000 in her negligence suit against the building’s owners and operators. The verdict came last week after a three-day trial.

Saunders, who has since moved to Edgewater, lived in the Hunting Hills apartments in the 4700 block of Sayer Avenue from February 2009 through February 2010.

The Daily Record reports that lawyers for the management refuted Saunders’ claim, and said the management responded promptly after being informed of the bed bug problem.

The paper also notes that the plaintiff’s lawyer, Daniel Whitney of Whitney and Bogris LLP (Towson, MD) claimed that this was the first bed bug trial in the city, and that he currently has eighteen bed bug-related cases waiting to go to trial.

Protect yourself from bed bug litigation and possible monetary losses by promptly trying to solve any bed bug infestations reported to you by your tenants. There are plenty of bed bug management companies and pest control agents that specialize in getting rid of bed bugs. Pick up the phone if you have bed bug issues and make the call. It is not only the right thing to do, it may save you money and time loss in a court room.

Why are bed bugs so hard to get rid of?

Bed bugs are extremely difficult to get rid of once they’ve established themselves in a home base, apartment, home, business, or any dwelling for that matter. What makes it so hard to get rid of bed bugs?

Well, There are a couple of reasons why it is so hard to get rid of bed bugs once they have made a foot-hold. Up to 88 percent bed bugs are resistant to pesticides and insecticides that you would normally be able to treat other insect infestations with. Secondly bed bugs are not like cockroaches, for example, which have pads on their feet. You can spray a pesticide or insecticide down and and when the cockroaches walk over it the chemical sticks to these padded feet and they’re deader than a door nail. Bed bugs have claws on their feet with a much smaller surface area that the chemicals do not adhere to, thus it doesn’t kill them as effectively.

Bed Bug nymphs are only a millimeter wide. They can crawl in the middle of your mattress and just  come out for a while and feed. Bed bugs are small, flat, insects that are very adept at squeezing themselves into tiny spaces. They can hide in places a person would never think of looking for them, like behind loose wallpaper or under electrical switch plates. To successfully get rid of a bed bug infestation, you’ve got to find and kill every viable bed bug, which is not an easy task.

These parasitic insects multiply by leaps and bounds, a single female can lay 500 eggs during her life, and within a few months her offspring can reproduce as well. A few individuals introduced to a new environment can increase dramatically. Depending on conditions, bed bugs can produce 3 or 4 generations in one year. Additionally, bed bugs reproduce most quickly in temperatures between 70 degrees to 82 degrees, right in the range where most people keep their dwelling temperature at. Bed Bugs have been known to live for 18 months without a blood meal in a controlled environment. Bed bugs can go a very long time without feeding, should no host, meaning you, be present to provide them with needed blood meals. Scientists have documented adult bed bugs living up to 550 days without eating, and nymphs may last for months. So simply leaving an infested dwelling unoccupied for a few months in hopes of starving them out will do nothing to discourage the little freeloaders. So what happens is that these little bloodsuckers just hang out, your pesticide or insecticide degrades and by the time the bed bugs come out to feed the insecticide or pesticide is useless.

Just to make their extermination more difficult, bed bugs can sense chemical odors, and may avoid areas where cleaning agents or even pesticides have been applied.

Those are the main reasons why bed bugs are hard to get rid of.

One way to get rid of bed bugs is to use heat to kill them. This effective measure to kill insect infestations has been around for a very long time. Farmers in ancient times would burn down crops infested with bugs so that they would not spread to other uninfected crops. We are not saying you have to burn down your house in order to get rid of a bed bug problem. Many bed bug management companies that offer bed bug inspection and chemical extermination also offer heat treatment in getting rid of bed bugs. Some pest control agents even have new mobile heat treatment units that you can load your belonging into that cook bed bugs and other insects, thus getting rid of them.

Administrators performed thermal extermination in Johnson-McFarlane Residence Hall dorm rooms after students discovered a bed bug infestation in early-Sept.

“It works by using heat at a level of over 120 degrees for several hours to destroy bed bugs and their eggs,” said Justin Price, executive director of Housing and Residential Education

Heat is one of the most effective and eco-friendly ways in killing bed bugs, other insects, and eliminating an infestation

The bed bug infestation was isolated to Johnson-McFarlane Hall.

“DU has a relatively limited situation with only four rooms in one residence hall affected with a bed bug problem,” said Justin Price, executive director of Housing and Residential Education. “We are aggressively working to ensure that it remains that way.”

To make sure that the bed bugs don’t return, DU has chemically treated four rooms and will perform thermal extermination in 12 rooms in the residence hall. They are also going to inspect residence halls regularly using a bed bug detection dog.

This isn’t the first instance in which DU has fought a battle against bed bugs.

In Nov. 2010, six cases of bed bugs were reported — two in Nelson Hall and four in Centennial Halls. DU threw out infested mattresses, laundered students’ clothing and sprayed all six units to get rid of the bugs.

The parasitic insects can survive up to one year without feeding. They find dorm beds an ideal place to live.

While the situation has been stabilized, the bed bug infestation has made it uncomfortable for students

“I woke up the first morning with about 60 bites,” said freshman Andrew Neely.

When Neely woke up on the second night with more bites, he had a hunch something was wrong.

“I spent about a minute on the internet, and it became obvious it was bed bugs,” he said.

Administrators performed thermal extermination on Neely’s room after he brought the problem to their attention.

Neely, who got at least 100 bites total, felt everyone was surprised when it wasn’t resolved after the first spraying.

“This isn’t something people are used to dealing with,” he said. “I hope it’s finally done.”

No one is exactly sure where the bed bugs came from.

Price theorizes that the problem can be tracked to old furniture.

“As students move about from place to place, buy second-hand furniture or any number of factors, there is the potential that they also can acquire bed bugs,” said Price.

This proved to be the case when the bugs appeared on the other side of Neely’s room after surviving two chemical treatments.

Neely and his roommate decided to take precautionary measures.

“We did a lot of laundry,” he said. “Basically the whole time this was going on, we were washing our clothes and drying them.”

There is no way to stop bed bugs from being brought into a
hotel. New guests are arriving every day from all over the world,
and bringing their potentially infested luggage with them. Your
hotel can be bed bug free one day and infested in multiple rooms
the next. So prevention, in the Hotel and lodging industry, is having
an early detection program in place. Bed bugs must be detected very
quickly after they are brought in, hopefully, before they bite someone
and the hotel starts getting complaints about bed bug bites.

To facilitate this early bed bug detection, all hotel employees
should receive some bed bug identification training. This includes
the reception staff, maids, facilities personnel, hotel managers,
event planners, maintenance staff, catering staff, bell hops, cooks,
janitors, and absolutely everyone else. Why everyone? Because
your employees are located all over the hotel, and if everybody is
looking for bed bugs there is greater chance that you will discover
them quickly. Also keep in mind that guests are not the only people
capable of bringing bed bugs into your facility. Staff may also have
a bed bug problem in their homes that they bring into the workplace.

Where do you get bed bug identification training? You may already have
a contract pest management company or bed bug inspection agency
that offers a bed bug prevention program, so they can train your employees.
If your current company is inexperienced in bed bug management, hire an
experienced company immediately. Ask your new bed bug experts to provide your
employees with bed bug identification training. The training may cost you, but the
expense will be immediately recovered when your employees find a bed bug
before your guests do. Have your pest management company give advanced
bed bug inspection trainings to selected members of your hospitality or facilities
staff. The pest management company can help your selected bed bug staff to
draft a monthly inspection plan for the facility, so that your employees
actively scout guest rooms for bed bugs on a regular basis.

Housekeeping personnel who know what bed bugs and their fecal stains look
like can then alert your bed bug inspectors immediately if they think they
see bed bug evidence in a hotel room. This early detection will help to
identify infestations before they get started. The trained bed bug staff members
can also serve as handy inspectors if a guest complains about bites or bed bugs in their room.

Bed Bugs can cause serious negative effects on us but, the effects of having bed bug bites are more mental than physical, but the itchy bites can’t be ignored either.

Some people may have serious allergic reactions to bed bug bites especially if you have hypersensitive skin. Left untreated, bed bug bites can become infected and very unsightly. These bed bug bite marks can become so ugly that people have locked themselves in their home and not wanted to go out into the public.

Some mental effects of bed bug bites are stress and lack of sleep. some people will suffer a bed bug delusions, meaning the bugs really are gone, but you can’t shake the feeling that they’re still there. Even if the thought of sleeping with bed bugs doesn’t keep you up at night, the time and money it takes to get rid of them can stress you out.

Bed bugs can be a public relations nightmare. You’d hope customers would respect a proactive hotel, motel, or landlord who tried to educate them before a problem came in, but that’s rarely the case. Simply the mention of bed bugs can deter customers. Even with this being said, if you are a business, do the right thing, call in the professionals. There are professional bed bug management companies that not only specialize in finding bed bugs and eliminating them, they are adept at how to spin any public relations nightmare into a positive.

If you are a homeowner, you may worry what friends, family, and neighbors will say if they find out you have a bed bug problem. Bed bugs aren’t associated with filth or social status, but many people think they are. If you are getting bed bug bites or think you have them in your home get it taken care of professionally. A bed bug problem taken care of by yourself and not totally wiped out will just come back. Sometimes worse that it was in the first place.

Diseases are not thought to be transmitted by bed bugs. But, then again, it was not long ago that we didn’t know where the West Nile virus was coming from. Could there be a disease out there that bed bugs do spread? It’s possible. Why take the chance with your health or a lawsuit. Get a professional bed bug management company on the line if you think you have a bed bug problem.

So, you think you have a bed bug problem in your home or business and you want to save some money by taking care of the problem yourself.  Think again, The savings that you may occur may also cause serious health problems in the form of an accidental insecticide poisoning.

Do-it-yourself attempts to get rid of bed bugs have resulted in 111 cases of insecticide poisonings and one death, according to a study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported that a 65-year-old North Carolina woman died in 2010 after she and her husband improperly used an overabundance of insecticides in their home, saturating everything from the mattress to her own skin and hair. Other pesticide related illnesses included headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and breathing issues.

Pesticides are a category of chemicals that are used to kill or control insects, weeds, fungi, rodents and microbes.  Pesticides come in various forms, including sprays, liquids, powders, granules, baits and foggers.  When a pesticide comes into contact with a surface or an organism, that contact is called a pesticide exposure. For humans, a pesticide exposure means getting pesticides in or on the body. Pesticides can come into contact with the body in four main ways:  Oral (when you swallow a pesticide), Inhalation (when you inhale a pesticide), Ocular (when you get a pesticide in your eyes),and Dermal (when you get a pesticide on your skin. Pesticide poisonings in attempts for getting rid of bed bugs or any other pest for that matter can affect a person adversely in many ways.  These insecticide or pesticide poisonings can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis or bronchitis with acute asthma, bronchospasms, and upper respiratory irritation.  They can cause gastrointestinal issues, neurological problems such as: dizziness, fasiculations, and headache.  Misuse of insecticides in treating a bed bug problem can also cause dermal problems such as: dermatitis, hives, and pruritis.  The list goes on and on with the problems associated with unintentional pesticide posionings when you try to kill a bed bug problem on your own.

If you think you may have become poisoned by misuse of an insecticide or pesticide in self-treating a bed bug problem here is what you should do and look out for:

Seek medical attention if you suspect any type of pesticide poisoning. The symptoms and treatment will always depend on the type of poisoning. Know the type of pesticide you are using and the symptoms associated with the poisoning. Watch for dizziness, nausea, headache, fatigue, lack of appetite and stomach problems such as diarrhea, pains or cramps.  Look for any new eye problems such as constant tearing, distorted vision and contracted pupils.  Note symptoms associated with mild pesticide poisoning. They can include excessive amounts of saliva and perspiration, involuntary muscle twitching or movement, thirst, moodiness and uncontrolled urination and bowel movements.  Notice moderately severe symptoms. They can include chest tightness and discomfort, very small pupils, weakness, yellow skin, weeping, confusion, difficulty breathing and an inability to walk.  Acknowledge seizures, increased rate of breathing or inability to breathe, vomiting, convulsions, uncontrolled twitching and unconsciousness occurs in very serious cases of pesticide poisoning.  Call the poison control hotline or 911. Be prepared to answer questions regarding the type of pesticide used and when the poisoning occurred. Carefully follow all instructions given to you by 911 or the poison control hotline.

If you think you have a bed bug problem in your home or business you may think that you can take care of the problem yourself and save some money but, in the long run you are putting your health at risk.  The best way to find, treat, and kill a bed bug problem is to use a professional, licensed bed bug inspection company and a professional pest control agent that specializes in getting rid of bed bugs.