06 March 2011
British Airways has Bed Bugs !
10/03/11 10:43
British Airways recently had to apologise to a woman passenger after she complained of being bitten by bedbugs on two flights, one Los Angeles-London flight and the other Bangalore-London.
Now the US Environmental Protection Agency has warned that “a bedbug plague is sweeping the United States and shows no signs of stopping”.
I expect this story — and the incorrect association of this quote with the EPA — will continue to make the rounds for some time, as these news agencies have a wide reach.
For what it’s worth, at least one source close to Bedbugger who was present reported finding the conversations and presentations at the EPA’s recent Bed Bug Summit “encouraging” overall. That kind of story seems to have a harder time going viral.
Now the US Environmental Protection Agency has warned that “a bedbug plague is sweeping the United States and shows no signs of stopping”.
I expect this story — and the incorrect association of this quote with the EPA — will continue to make the rounds for some time, as these news agencies have a wide reach.
For what it’s worth, at least one source close to Bedbugger who was present reported finding the conversations and presentations at the EPA’s recent Bed Bug Summit “encouraging” overall. That kind of story seems to have a harder time going viral.
Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland calls bed bugs a ‘major public health issue’
10/03/11 10:40
Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland calls bed bugs a ‘major public health issue’
The BBC News reports that
Health experts have warned a rise in bedbug infestations in Scotland is becoming a ‘major public health issue’. The claim by the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland (REHIS) comes as US experts said the world was on the verge of a ‘global pandemic’.
According to the same article, the concerns about the spread of bed bugs in Scotland are based solely on anecdotal evidence so far:
REHIS said it only had anecdotal reports of a rise, and called for improvements in how data is collected and shared in the UK so that trends can be properly monitored.
It has organised a conference in Glasgow, where experts are debating how to deal with the problem.
I appreciate this recognition of the seriousness of the spread of bed bugs in Scotland. Bed bugs are a public health issue.
However, this article makes it clear that Scots probably need an education campaign about bed bugs, because it cites a pest management firm which
… said people should look out for an “almond smell” and red spots on bedclothes as signs of infestation.
Well, okay. But few people I have come across have noted “smelling” their bed bug infestations. Even many pros tell us they don’t smell them. We have a FAQ on this topic.
Incidentally, among those who have noted a smell (which may be more likely in severe infestations), I have heard it compared to “ripe raspberries,” and “coriander (cilantro),” but almonds are a new one to me. Smell’s a pretty subjective sense.
The article also claims that
The insects are flat, rusty brown in color and about 5 mm long.
They are, give or take, except when they’re 1 mm long and translucent. Or when they’ve just fed for the first time and are about the same size but bright red. Or when they are at various other intermediate sizes during any of the other four nymphal stages preceding adulthood. Or when, as adults, they’re not so flat but puffed up from a meal.
I wish we could send Lou Sorkin to that Glasgow bed bug conference. There’s no one who better understands the gap between what people are usually told about bed bugs, and what they most need to know to identify and deal with them.
The article ends with a cliché that is also based on anecdotal evidence. Of the bed bug problem in the US, the article notes,
New York was the worst affected city with office buildings, cinemas and shops – including the flagship Nike store in Manhattan and the BBC’s studios at the United Nations – being forced to deal with infestations.
It’s true New York has a serious bed bug problem, and that the media has reported many high-profile cases, particularly in the last year.
However, just because the media reports more high-profile bed bug infestations in New York does not mean that this city is more affected than other cities in the US or abroad. There’s no really accurate data here on how many are affected here, and the same is true of other cities.
A number of the high profile New York bed bug cases seem to have been detected by pro-active canine screenings. I am not sure how common such screenings are elsewhere.
Some other reports seem to have been based on finding one lone bed bug — which is arguably much more likely in a city where everyone is on their toes looking for bed bugs, perhaps aided in their recognition by the presence of massive bed bugs on advertisements in the streets and subways.
Those complaints aside, I am glad to see the importance of this problem — and its public health significance in particular — recognized in Scotland. The news that REHIS is organizing a bed bug conference and calling for better data collection and sharing is very welcome.
Hopefully it will lead to more cases being promptly detected, and dealt with, and programs being put in place to help people better avoid and fight bed bugs.
The BBC News reports that
Health experts have warned a rise in bedbug infestations in Scotland is becoming a ‘major public health issue’. The claim by the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland (REHIS) comes as US experts said the world was on the verge of a ‘global pandemic’.
According to the same article, the concerns about the spread of bed bugs in Scotland are based solely on anecdotal evidence so far:
REHIS said it only had anecdotal reports of a rise, and called for improvements in how data is collected and shared in the UK so that trends can be properly monitored.
It has organised a conference in Glasgow, where experts are debating how to deal with the problem.
I appreciate this recognition of the seriousness of the spread of bed bugs in Scotland. Bed bugs are a public health issue.
However, this article makes it clear that Scots probably need an education campaign about bed bugs, because it cites a pest management firm which
… said people should look out for an “almond smell” and red spots on bedclothes as signs of infestation.
Well, okay. But few people I have come across have noted “smelling” their bed bug infestations. Even many pros tell us they don’t smell them. We have a FAQ on this topic.
Incidentally, among those who have noted a smell (which may be more likely in severe infestations), I have heard it compared to “ripe raspberries,” and “coriander (cilantro),” but almonds are a new one to me. Smell’s a pretty subjective sense.
The article also claims that
The insects are flat, rusty brown in color and about 5 mm long.
They are, give or take, except when they’re 1 mm long and translucent. Or when they’ve just fed for the first time and are about the same size but bright red. Or when they are at various other intermediate sizes during any of the other four nymphal stages preceding adulthood. Or when, as adults, they’re not so flat but puffed up from a meal.
I wish we could send Lou Sorkin to that Glasgow bed bug conference. There’s no one who better understands the gap between what people are usually told about bed bugs, and what they most need to know to identify and deal with them.
The article ends with a cliché that is also based on anecdotal evidence. Of the bed bug problem in the US, the article notes,
New York was the worst affected city with office buildings, cinemas and shops – including the flagship Nike store in Manhattan and the BBC’s studios at the United Nations – being forced to deal with infestations.
It’s true New York has a serious bed bug problem, and that the media has reported many high-profile cases, particularly in the last year.
However, just because the media reports more high-profile bed bug infestations in New York does not mean that this city is more affected than other cities in the US or abroad. There’s no really accurate data here on how many are affected here, and the same is true of other cities.
A number of the high profile New York bed bug cases seem to have been detected by pro-active canine screenings. I am not sure how common such screenings are elsewhere.
Some other reports seem to have been based on finding one lone bed bug — which is arguably much more likely in a city where everyone is on their toes looking for bed bugs, perhaps aided in their recognition by the presence of massive bed bugs on advertisements in the streets and subways.
Those complaints aside, I am glad to see the importance of this problem — and its public health significance in particular — recognized in Scotland. The news that REHIS is organizing a bed bug conference and calling for better data collection and sharing is very welcome.
Hopefully it will lead to more cases being promptly detected, and dealt with, and programs being put in place to help people better avoid and fight bed bugs.
Bed bugs found in several rooms at New Jersey psychiatric hospital
10/03/11 10:36
Bed bugs found in several rooms at New Jersey psychiatric hospital
The Jersey Journal reported today that two rooms at the Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey have been vacant since bed bugs were found in them:
A patient in Room 306 of the Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital reported a bite on Jan. 11 and subsequent testing revealed that there was a bedbug infestation in Room 306 and bedbugs were found in Room 307 as well, Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said.
The patients were removed from those two rooms, Kennelly said, and the rooms have been vacant since.
The rooms were treated by an exterminator, but when officials checked the rooms in mid-February, one bedbug was found in each room. Kennelly said the county policy is to quarantine a room 30 days when bedbugs are discovered.
Kennelly added that the second testing of the rooms revealed the presence of bedbugs, but not to the level of an infestation. A third test of the rooms will be conducted in mid-March.
I am not an expert on bed bug treatment, but I wonder about the treatment process for a quarantined room.
We’re often told that if spray and dust treatments are used, humans must be present as “bait” to draw bed bugs out to cross poison and die. We don’t know all of the facts here. Perhaps active bed bug monitors are being implemented to attract the bed bugs out, in the absence of humans?
On the other hand, subjecting patients at Meadowview to life with bed bugs is not desirable — so I am not suggesting they sleep in infested rooms. (The last thing they need, on top of everything else, is to deal with bed bug bites and bug sightings.)
So this raises the question of whether other methods may be needed to treat the rooms and the items inside them, without forcing people to sleep there.
It would be possible to professionally heat treat the rooms in order to kill bed bugs in the structure and furniture.
It would also be possible to remove furniture and other items from the room for heat treatment or Vikane gas fumigation, while the room itself receives traditional spray/dust/steam treatments.
Again, even if the belongings are rendered bed bug free, the room itself will be hard to treat using traditional sprays/dusts if a human is not sleeping there as bait.
The University of Florida has been using a method of heat treating furniture and possessions in dorm rooms. (You can read about that in the Bed Bugs Manual linked from this U of Florida page.)
Note that back in December 2009, there was an ongoing problem with bed bugs in the Straight and Narrow addiction treatment center, which — at least at the time — rented space from Meadowview.
Hospitals and health care facilities of all kinds need to get good advice on bed bug behavior, detection and treatment, to implement bed bug prevention and detection plans, and to train staff on how to detect and respond to bed bugs which will surely eventually turn up in their facilities, if they haven’t yet.
The Jersey Journal reported today that two rooms at the Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital in Secaucus, New Jersey have been vacant since bed bugs were found in them:
A patient in Room 306 of the Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital reported a bite on Jan. 11 and subsequent testing revealed that there was a bedbug infestation in Room 306 and bedbugs were found in Room 307 as well, Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said.
The patients were removed from those two rooms, Kennelly said, and the rooms have been vacant since.
The rooms were treated by an exterminator, but when officials checked the rooms in mid-February, one bedbug was found in each room. Kennelly said the county policy is to quarantine a room 30 days when bedbugs are discovered.
Kennelly added that the second testing of the rooms revealed the presence of bedbugs, but not to the level of an infestation. A third test of the rooms will be conducted in mid-March.
I am not an expert on bed bug treatment, but I wonder about the treatment process for a quarantined room.
We’re often told that if spray and dust treatments are used, humans must be present as “bait” to draw bed bugs out to cross poison and die. We don’t know all of the facts here. Perhaps active bed bug monitors are being implemented to attract the bed bugs out, in the absence of humans?
On the other hand, subjecting patients at Meadowview to life with bed bugs is not desirable — so I am not suggesting they sleep in infested rooms. (The last thing they need, on top of everything else, is to deal with bed bug bites and bug sightings.)
So this raises the question of whether other methods may be needed to treat the rooms and the items inside them, without forcing people to sleep there.
It would be possible to professionally heat treat the rooms in order to kill bed bugs in the structure and furniture.
It would also be possible to remove furniture and other items from the room for heat treatment or Vikane gas fumigation, while the room itself receives traditional spray/dust/steam treatments.
Again, even if the belongings are rendered bed bug free, the room itself will be hard to treat using traditional sprays/dusts if a human is not sleeping there as bait.
The University of Florida has been using a method of heat treating furniture and possessions in dorm rooms. (You can read about that in the Bed Bugs Manual linked from this U of Florida page.)
Note that back in December 2009, there was an ongoing problem with bed bugs in the Straight and Narrow addiction treatment center, which — at least at the time — rented space from Meadowview.
Hospitals and health care facilities of all kinds need to get good advice on bed bug behavior, detection and treatment, to implement bed bug prevention and detection plans, and to train staff on how to detect and respond to bed bugs which will surely eventually turn up in their facilities, if they haven’t yet.
