April 15th, 2009
EPA holding conference on bed bugs as infestations rise
Posted: 10:51 AM ET
(CNN) — No matter the old adage, not letting the bed bugs bite is a more serious undertaking now that the parasites appear to be making a comeback.
“They’re an old scourge” and they’ve been around for years, said Dale Kemery, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency. “We thought we had eradicated them.”
A growing number of complaints about the reddish-brown insects prompted the EPA to hold its first bed bug conference on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The conference was convened to look at what the problem is,” Kemery said. He said about 230 people, including academics, EPA employees and exterminators were attending the conference in Arlington, Virginia.
The big problem of the tiny bed bug — a nocturnal, oval-shaped bloodsucker measuring about 5 millimeters long (.19 inches) — has recently become more prevalent in the United States, according to Kemery and an April article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Quick tips to help remove bed bugs
ReplyDeleteThe best way to deal with bed bugs is by sealing your mattress and pillows with a plastic or hypoallergenic zipped cover. This traps the bugs that are inside your pillow and prevents them from feeding and kills them over time - remember, a nymph can live for two months without feeding, an adult can survive more than 12 months!
Do not apply any pesticide to mattresses or surfaces that would come in contact with the skin unless the pesticide specifically states that the product can be used in this manner.
Wash all your linens and place them in a hot dryer for 20 minutes (or you can freeze them at -5 C or below for five days).
You can vacuum to capture bed bugs and their eggs, but because the eggs are embedded to the fabric, you may have to scrape the surface. Once you have vacuumed everything, immediately place the vacuum bag into a plastic bad, seal it tight and dispose (outside).
Seal items mentioned above to prevent the bugs from hiding. You can place glue boards or sticky tape around your bed and in the room to catch the bed bugs as the move around; this gives you a way to monitor the effectiveness of your efforts.
A few ways to prevent bed bugs from getting into your home include:
* Hang clothing in the closet farthest from the bed
* Place luggage on the folding rack found in most hotels
* Place luggage in the dry cleaning bad found in the hotel.
* Most important, don't bring home a mattress that has been used by unknown sources.
Our Bed Bug discussion has 100's of stories and pictures of people bitten by bed bugs that include helpful insights into coping with this . If have bite marks on your body and are looking to determine what bit you, check out discussions, they can be a big help! If you have a picture, please send it in and we'll post it for others to comment on - not to worry, we'll crop the picture so that only your bite shows, so don't fret about the details.
We also offer our very popular bedbug checklist to help you quickly look for signs of bedbugs BEFORE you sleep. Our Bed Bug Treatment section covers in detail the methods used to get rid of these bugs and our Frequently Asked Questions (Bed Bug FAQ) covers the most common questions our visits ask.
Perhaps you can help identify the bug bite or may know of method of pest control not mentioned? If so, please leave a comment and help out. Bedbug infestation is a frightening experience and knowing that others have been down the same road can really help, so please comment whenever possible.
note: a survey of pest managers by the University of Sydney Department of Medical Entomology shows the bed bug infestations have increased 5000 percent since 2000!
Take a look around and enjoy the site!
From Badbedbugs.com
Bedbugs worry Manitoba daycares
ReplyDeleteLast Updated: Friday, October 22, 2010 | 9:07 AM CT Comments30Recommend19
CBC News
The incidence of bed bugs has grown in Winnipeg with exterminators noting a 30 per cent rise in calls over the past year.The incidence of bed bugs has grown in Winnipeg with exterminators noting a 30 per cent rise in calls over the past year. (Associated Press)
Daycares in Manitoba want some help from the province in how to deal with bedbugs.
A provincial government spokesperson confirms one child at a daycare has been found to have bedbug bites and that the daycare is taking precautions to prevent the spread of the bugs.
The name of the daycare has not been released.
Pat Wege, executive director at the Manitoba Child Care Association, said the bugs are not yet a major issue in daycares, but could be, and operators need some information on how best to deal with them.
"I think it's a 21st century reality, and you know, as people who live here in Winnipeg know, it is a fact. We're going to have to accommodate that," she said.
"We're going to have to plan for it. We're going to have to take precautions."
Wege wants the province to draw up some guidelines.
"They may decide that children who have bugs in their home have to change clothes when they come into the facility to reduce the risk of hitchhiking," she said.
Or, they may decide not to allow cuddle toys into the centres, Wege added.
Winnipeg is dealing with a larger-than-usual problem of bedbugs, according to a pest control expert.
"Our bedbug business has increased 30 per cent this year," Clint Roseavear, of Monarch Pest Control, told CBC News in an earlier interview. "There's definitely a lot of problems out there, and it doesn't seem to get any better."
Bedbugs have shown up in the most unusual and public places — from movie theatres to banks and university residences.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/10/22/mb-bed-bug-bites-daycares-manitoba.html#ixzz139vdNJIS