Re: New Epidemic - Bedbugs

[Guest guest]

I have heard lots of complaints from New Yorkers about this..

Evidently, they are coming back because of the same reasons mold is

coming back.. deferred maintenance, increased indoor humidity, less

ventilation..

Also, because many people are spooked about toxics, people don;t spray

insecticide like they used to..

I wonder.. does anyone know if boric acid works on bedbugs?

Another thought.. do any states have 'standards' for 'acceptable

levels of bedbug infestation'?

not serious.. but of people are suing, you know that landlords are

going to come back with the argument that the bedbugs 'are a feature,

not a bug'

(ha ha.. couldn't resist that one..Its a geek joke..)

Carl is right on on this one.. I hear the bites are VERY painful.. and

they sometimes leave scars..

On 1/24/06, Carl E. Grimes <grimes@...> wrote:

>

> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10987651/

>

> Like mold, bedbugs are living organisms that need a particular

> habitat to live and breed and grow. Unlike mold, dead bedbugs aren't

> a threat. It will be interesting to see why they have suddenly begun

> to thrive and what it will take to regain control.

>

> Jeff, what info do you have?

>

> Carl Grimes

> Healthy Habitats LLC

>

> -----

> MSNBC.com

>

> Bedbugs biting their way across the country

> New York City the hotbed of nationwide epidemic, experts say

>

> The Associated Press

> Updated: 9:24 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2006

>

>

> NEW YORK - Legions of tiny bloodsucking bugs are biting their way

> through the Big Apple, making this the city that never sleeps ...

> tight.

>

> Bedbugs are back, and they're not just rearing their rust-colored

> heads in New York City. Experts say they're spreading to other states

> and countries. Exterminators who handled one or two bedbug calls a

> year are now getting that many in a week, according to the National

> Pest Management Association.

>

> " There's an epidemic going on throughout the country, and New York

> seems to be the hotbed, " said Eisenberg, a pest control

> expert.

>

> Bedbugs are turning up in hospitals, schools, movie theaters, health

> clubs. Recent reports put them in a New Jersey college dorm and a Los

> Angeles hotel — where one guest filed a $5 million lawsuit. Apartment

> tenants have taken landlords to court over infestations.

>

> The current generation of exterminators has been caught unaware by

> these pests, which were all but forgotten for decades. They blame the

> comeback on several factors, primarily increased global travel and

> the banning of potent pesticides like DDT.

>

> " We feel like we're starting from scratch, " said Eisenberg, who

> returned this weekend from a conference where bedbugs were a top

> priority. " The only thing we know is that we don't know anything. "

>

> The tiny vermin avoid light and attack in the middle of the night.

> About the size of a flattened apple seed, they hide in cracks and

> crevices in furniture and walls.

>

> They're efficient and active travelers, often hitching rides on

> clothing and jumping from host to host when people brush up against

> each other on the subway, in elevators or on crowded streets.

>

> And they invade even the cleanest apartments and swankiest

> neighborhoods.

>

> " We've always had pests in New York City — we have rats, cockroaches,

> et cetera — but bedbugs are new, " said city Councilwoman Gail Brewer,

> who is calling for a bedbug task force. " We're not doing a good job

> focusing on it. "

>

>

> Fighting an infestation is a costly, time-consuming process.

> Belongings must be removed from the home to be thoroughly washed or

> dry-cleaned, followed by meticulous vacuuming, before the

> exterminator can even begin work. It often takes several visits.

>

> Banning reconditioned mattresses

> People who have bedbugs rarely see them. The only signs are pepper-

> like spots of their fecal matter, specks of dried blood on bed sheets

> and, of course, the bites. The scourge is nearly impossible to

> eradicate; the creatures can go a year without feeding, they

> reproduce rapidly and don't die easily.

>

> " Now it's just us against these bugs, " said Sofia Capinha, a 20-year-

> old college junior whose New Jersey dorm room has been infested since

> September.

>

> Between calls to campus officials and visits from an exterminator,

> she and her roommate have tried covering her mattress in a zippered

> plastic cover and greasing bedposts with Vaseline to keep the bugs

> from crawling up.

>

> Nothing has worked. Two nights after they returned from holiday

> break, she was bitten again — on the face.

>

> In New York City, Brewer announced new legislation Sunday that seeks

> to halt some common mattress industry practices that exacerbate the

> problem.

>

> She wants a ban on reconditioning mattresses — essentially taking old

> ones, refurbishing them and selling them like new, which can spread

> the bugs into stores and homes. The legislation would also require

> separate transport of old and new mattresses. A mattress purchase

> often includes the removal of the old one, and several used and new

> mattresses mingling in a truck produce a bedbug free-for-all.

>

> © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may

> not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

>

> © 2006 MSNBC.com

>

> URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10987651/

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