RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Tiff over bed bugs leads to stabbing.

A tiff over bed bugs ended with a man suffering a serious stab wound, police say.

Thurmell Maley, 42, was being held Sunday in the Hamilton County Justice Center on a felonious assault charge after an incident that was reported Saturday at Maley's home in the 2600 block of Burnet Avenue here.

Maley used a kitchen knife to stab Anthony Rice in the left side of his stomach and back area, "following a verbal altercation over (Maley) having bed bugs," police and court records say.

Rice suffered serious physical harm, a court document says, but no further information on his condition was immediately available.

Maley is to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court at 9 a.m. Monday.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bed bugs found in Hospital for Children

Bed bugs were discovered this weekend at Riley Hospital for Children, an Indiana University Health official said this morning.

"Bed bugs continue to be an issue nationwide," said IU Health spokeswoman Abby Gras in an email. "To ensure the safety of our patients and families, we work closely with our infection control and environmental services departments to ensure the incident is isolated and dealt with in a timely manner."

A family staying at the hospital with a newborn daughter shared photos of the bedbugs and an email with WXIN (Channel 59). WXIN did not name the family in its reports, and the hospital has not named the family in responding to them.

Bed bugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans, according to the WebMD.com. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, their bodies swell and turn a reddish color.

Although their bites cause redness and itching, the insects do not transmit diseases, according to the medical information website.

Bed bugs can be inadvertently brought home in luggage and other items after motel or hospital stays. They often hide in mattresses, box springs, bedframes and headboards. They are active mostly at night.

Cleanliness and hygiene, experts say, have no connection to incidence of bed bugs. A single stowaway ready to lay eggs can lead to an infestation in a clean and well-kept environment.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bed Bug Infestation Closes Salvation Army Shelter

A bed bug infestation has forced a Salvation Army shelter in Orlando to temporarily close. The Salvation Army announced Thursday that the men's shelter could be closed for up to a week.

The Orlando Sentinel reports officials are scrambling to find accommodations for up to 75 homeless men - just as the temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s. Another 50 men who are enrolled in the agency's long-term transitional program will be housed in a gym on the shelter's property.

Officials say it will cost about $15,000 to tent the building for treatment of bed bugs.

Spokeswoman Vicki Hastings says the Salvation Army hopes the public will help cover the costs.

Bed bugs bites can lead to severe itching and skin infections.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bedbugs Take Cheer out of School Trip

A cheerleading squad that checked into the Quality Inn said they found numerous bed bugs and evidence of bed bugs in more than one room. Friday, they drove six hours to the Grand Rapids area for an early Saturday competition and discovered bedbugs in their room.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

DISGUSTING! In One Year, 3 TIMES as Many Bedbugs are Found in Public Schools this Year

Bedbugs were found in public schools three times as often last school year compared to the year before - and officials are preparing for even more of the pests when classes resume in the fall.

Some 3,590 reports of bedbugs at city schools were confirmed by Department of Education officials in the 2010-2011 year - up from just 1,019 a year earlier.

In most cases just one or two of bedbugs were found, but the consequences for students can be severe even when small numbers of the pests are discovered.

"Fumigation for the bugs destroyed four of our classrooms completely," said Lucille Mauro, a gym teacher and union chapter leader at Public School 197 in Midwood, Brooklyn, where one or two bedbugs were discovered nine separate times last year.

Damage from chemicals used to exterminate the pests ruined classroom libraries and other teaching materials that the school is still struggling to replace.

"It's been disruptive for the kids," said Mauro, who is also the teacher's union chapter leader at PS 197.

To prevent the return of the pests next year, teachers and students at the school are storing book bags and jackets in plastic bags and containers.

Education officials said they're working to better control the problem of bedbugs in schools across the city.

State laws compel public schools to notify parents when bedbugs are found, even if just a single pest is discovered.

DOE spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said that most incidents at city schools involved only one bedbug brought in by someone coming into the building.

"Schools are not hospitable environments for bedbugs," said Feinberg.

But some experts think it's likely that more of the bugs will turn up in city classrooms next year.

"More people have the bugs in their homes, so more will probably show up in schools," said Richard Cooper, an entomologist who served on the city's Bedbug Advisory Board.

source = nydailynews.com

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Tenant Tries to Kill Bed Bugs, Starts Fire

OH: Union Township firefighters responded to an apartment complex in Mt. Carmel this weekend after a tenant tried to kill bed bugs with rubbing alcohol.

The call came at around 5 p.m. Friday, January 21.

"The occupant was trying to self-exterminate bed bugs and was spraying the couch with rubbing alcohol while smoking a cigarette," Fire Chief Stan Deimling said.

Deimling said the occupant, who is not being named at this time, caught the couch on fire - destroying the couch and damaging the carpet. Firefighters also had to ventilate the fire through the window.

Deimling said the damage will probably cost about $600.

The occupant was transported to University Hospital for burns on his hands.

"As far as we're concerned, this is an accidental fire. The damage will be between the tenant and the landlord," Deimling said.

From Community Press

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Waldorf Astoria is Haven for Bedbugs! Md. Tourist Third to Sue Famed Hotel for Bloodsucker 'Attack'

A Maryland woman is suing the Waldorf Astoria for $10 million because, she says, she awoke at the fancy hotel and found bedbugs all over her body.

Svetlana Tendler is the third tourist since last year to sue the famed Park Ave. hotel over a nasty encounter with the tiny bloodsuckers.

"I felt like I was eaten alive by bedbugs, which have attacked my body," she said.

Tendler, her husband, Jacob, and their two kids stayed at the hotel in August 2007, the suit says.

One morning, she awoke to a nasty bedbug attack.

Photographs released by her lawyer, Anna Carley, show bites on Tendler's arms and legs.

"The defendants did nothing to assist plaintiff, Svetlana Tendler, in treatment of ... bed bites or fumigation of [her] luggage," says the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Tendler, of Owings Mill, Md., initially filed a summons against the hotel in August.

She filed a new, detailed complaint this week.

A Michigan woman who says bedbugs attacked her during a family vacation sued the hotel in November.

The hotel also was sued in October by a woman whose 6-year-old daughter said she was victimized by bedbugs during a visit last February.

Hilton Worldwide, which owns the Waldorf Astoria, declined to comment.

Source = NY Daily News

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Click on Image to Enlarge

There are things that we see in our industry that are pest impressive to down right jaw dropping disgusting. This fits both those tags!

Here is the story...

40 unit commercial apartment building. Report of bedbugs in two units on two floors. I get there and find both units were positive for bedbugs, just minor activity. After questioning the two tenants plus the superintendent there was nothing conclusive as to why they had bedbugs. Best to inspect abutting units to see if there is anything else going on. I asked to get into unit “3-A” to which the superintendent responded “Joe has lived there for 15yrs and has never once complained about pests or anything.”

I replied, “Exactly the reason why I need to get in there.” The second “Joe” opened the door we found the epicenter of the bedbug problem. There was not ONE SQUARE INCH of the apartment that did not have bedbugs!!! This was a problem that was at least 3yrs old if not longer.

The picture you see is his comforter with tons of live bedbug, eggs, cast skins, fecal matter, etc. YEARS WORTH! Needless to say he was causing bedbugs in adjoining units, even more proof that pests don’t know property lines! This was a perfect example of your neighbors pest issue becoming yours. EHS brought in our K-9 bedbug detection team to sweep all 40 units. What started as two units with bedbugs became six units with confirmed bedbugs. No worries, EHS eliminated the bedbugs.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

MSNBC: Survey says 1 in 5 Have Encountered Bedbugs

One in five Americans has either had an experience with bedbugs themselves or knows someone who has and a majority say the tiny blood-suckers are a source of worry for them, according to a new survey.

Young renters who live in cities are most vulnerable to bedbugs, the survey showed.

Some respondents said they changed their routines to minimize the likelihood of encountering the bug.

A quarter of respondents have checked a hotel room for bedbugs and 12 percent have changed or canceled travel plans for fear of the pest. Others said they checked second-hand furniture and store dressing rooms.

Having a bedbug infested home can also hurt people's social lives. A third of respondents said they would not invite friends who had the infestation into their homes, as people can carry bedbugs around on their clothing.

But the poll also found wide-spread misinformation about bedbugs. Nearly half believed, incorrectly, that bedbugs transmit disease to humans and more than a quarter thought they are more common in lower income households and dirty homes.

"The truth is that bedbugs do not discriminate in regard to cleanliness, nor do they prefer one socio-economic class to another," Henriksen said.

"Bedbugs are found in penthouses and five-star hotels as well as in low-income housing and budget motels."

- Seventy eight percent of respondents were most concerned about infested hotels, while others said they were wary of picking them up at work, at the doctor's, at the movie theater or on public transportation.

"I was surprised just how pervasive the problem is," said Missy Henriksen, a vice president at the National Pest Management Association, which commissioned the online survey of 504 adults. Bedbugs, which are about the size of a grain of rice and flat-shaped, like to nestle in furniture and bedding upholstery and are notoriously difficult to get rid of.

Source: MSNBC

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Bedbugs Found at 3 Library Branches

Bedbugs have been found at three Edmonton public library branches over the past several months.

The pests have been spotted at the Sprucewood, Londonderry and Stanley Milner branches.

Bedbugs were found in the Milner library in November. An environmental health officer was notified and an exterminator and a sniffer dog were called in to handle the problem.

"There was a piece of furniture that, in fact, had a bed bug in it, or a number of bedbugs, so the piece of furniture was removed," said Joanne Grenier, the executive director of management services for Edmonton Public Libraries.

It was the first time bedbugs had been discovered in an Edmonton library, Grenier said. No bedbugs have been found in the Milner library since then.

Bedbugs were also seen in the Sprucewood branch just before Christmas. The pests were discovered in the Londonderry branch a couple of weeks ago.

The library did not notify the public because the risk was considered low, as each outbreak was considered to be minor, Grenier said.

"We didn't feel it was significant enough an issue or unique enough, I guess, to the library, to do a public communication," she said.

The discoveries have prompted library staff to check borrowed materials for bedbugs before they are reshelved.

Grenier said a provincial environmental health officer told her bedbugs tend not to thrive in libraries, as there is no one around for them to bite at night, when they tend to come out.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA