RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

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 

School Officials Say Bedbugs at School a Hoax

Augusta Independent School Principal Robin Kelsch had enough to worry about with the flu. Kelsch didn't need a student's report of bedbugs at the school to make things worse.

But, that's what he got.

Kelsch told The Ledger Independent that the report turned out to be a hoax, but school office phones were ringing with concerned parents on the other end (http://bit.ly/y6sYQw).

Kelsch said the rumor started when a student brought in a water bug and squashed it, then told her friends it was a bedbug "just to scare them."

Kelsch said officials checked the school, then bleached and cleaned it and found "absolutely no" bedbugs.

As far as can be determined, Kelsch said, no one used the bedbug rumor as an excuse to skip school.

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

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

Bed Bug Bites Drive Indian Train Passengers to De-board and Demand a New Train Carriage

After complaining about bed bug bites for just under a hundred kilometers, twenty-two passengers in a bed bug-infested railway compartment in India got off their train yesterday, and demanded railway officials provide them with a new train carriage. Tormented by bedbugs, passengers in one of the air-conditioned coaches of the Jammu Tawi Express from Mangalore got off the compartment here early on Tuesday and forced railway authorities to replace the carriage.

The 22 passengers in the compartment said they had been continuously bitten by bedbugs ever since the train passed Shoranur. In Coimbatore, they left the compartment with their luggage and demanded a replacement coach.

The train was delayed at Coimbatore for three-and-a-half hours. The travellers shouted slogans, and the issue was resolved only after station deputy superintendent M Chandran intervened. The train was delayed at Coimbatore for three-and-a-half hours. The travellers shouted slogans, and the issue was resolved only after station deputy superintendent M Chandran intervened. An air-conditioned coach from another train was taken from the maintenance yard and attached to the Jammu-bound train. The compartment with bugs was disinfected and later attached to the same train.

A ticket examiner said passengers had started complaining at Shoranur about the bugs. In Palakkad, they were told to wait till the train reached Coimbatore. "It was sheer luck that we were able to find an AC coach in the maintenance yard. Otherwise, things may have gone out of control," said a railway official here.

Source = India times

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

If dreaded bedbugs invade, don't make a run for the store pesticide aisle. Bedbugs have developed resistance to almost half of the 300 pesticides listed for their control. And even the pesticides that do work can make infestations harder to beat if they are not applied correctly.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, Florida's surgeon general and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recently issued public warnings urging people not to tackle bedbug problems on their own.

Rampant misuse of pesticides in Ohio, New Jersey and New York, where bedbug infestations are skyrocketing, has led to home explosions and illnesses from over-exposure to toxic chemicals.

"What we're trying to do is make sure Florida is aware of those kinds of issues so that people don't do things that are harmful to themselves," says Michael Page, chief of the Bureau of Entomology for the FDACS.

Instead, they advise working with a pest control company with a strategy to eradicate the bugs.

"This pest is not like roaches or flies or fleas, where you can treat once or twice and the problem is gone," Page says.

Largely absent from public dialogue four years ago, bedbugs have become a common pest problem throughout the United States. International travel and the bug's ability to swiftly build resistance to even the toughest pesticides, including banned DDT, has allowed the irritating bugs to spread rapidly. In desperation, homeowners dangerously are setting off multiple bug bombs in their homes or buying outdoor pesticides on the Internet to spray in their bedrooms.

"Typically, in the consumer world, if one is good, two is better and five is really good," says Wayne Walker, senior pest control technician at the University of Florida Department of Housing and Residence Education. "They don't understand the ramifications of over-applying the pesticide."

The problem has become so immense that Congress has held forums to develop a national bedbug strategy and last year considered passing a bill -- the Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite Act -- to fund state inspection of hotels.

Improper use of pesticides can be much worse than a bedbug's bite. Instead of trying to manage infestations alone, which rarely works, people should hire outside help, says Fred Santana, entomologist with the Sarasota County Extension Agency.

SOURCE: www.heraldtribune.com

In desperation, homeowners dangerously are setting off multiple bug bombs in their homes or buying outdoor pesticides on the Internet to spray in their bedrooms.

"Typically, in the consumer world, if one is good, two is better and five is really good," says Wayne Walker, senior pest control technician at the University of Florida Department of Housing and Residence Education. "They don't understand the ramifications of over-applying the pesticide."

The problem has become so immense that Congress has held forums to develop a national bedbug strategy and last year considered passing a bill -- the Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite Act -- to fund state inspection of hotels.

People are downright terrified of bedbugs because of the high cost, the difficulty of treatment and the social stigma. According to a recent survey funded by a major pesticide company, 30 percent of people say they would rather have a root canal than find bedbugs at home. Bedbugs, though icky and annoying, are not known to transmit disease to humans.

Improper use of pesticides can be much worse than a bedbug's bite. Instead of trying to manage infestations alone, which rarely works, people should hire outside help, says Fred Santana, entomologist with the Sarasota County Extension Agency.

It is important, however, to make sure the professionals know what they are doing. Santana says experienced companies will use an integrated approach, combining methods such as heat treatments, fumigation and strategically placed powders.

People should interview three to four companies before settling on one. Ask to see licenses and ask questions about their experience, strategies and pesticide choices.

In other states, unscrupulous or unlicensed companies have put clients at risk by over-using pesticides or using outdoor products indoors, exposing people to chemicals that can cause nerve damage and cancer.

"If there's a least-toxic approach, try the least toxic first," Santana says.

Heat has proven to be one of the best controls. Professionals place special fans or heaters in a room to bring temperatures to at least 113 degrees, hot enough to kill all stages of bedbugs, from adults the size of apple seeds to their nearly invisible eggs.

Most companies inspect for free and provide an estimate, which usually ranges from $500 to $1,500, depending on the size of the house and the level of infestation.

People will need to work with their pest company and follow instructions that range from throwing clothes and sheets in the dryer to packing items in plastic. They also should be prepared to live with the problem for several weeks before the bugs are successfully eliminated, says Cindy Mannes, spokeswoman for Arrow and Hughes exterminators.

"Pest control may have to come back three, four, five times, depending on the infestation," Mannes says. "It can be controlled; it's just not an easy process."

Bedbugs are extraordinarily tough to control and a lot of over-the-counter applications can make problems worse. Many products claim effectiveness, but have only been tested in lab situations.

"It leads the consumer into false beliefs that it will do things that it may not do," Walker says.

Bedbugs are so hard to control because they hide easily in small crevices, develop chemical resistance quickly, their population can explode exponentially in months and they can go long periods without food.

Foggers often make bedbugs disappear from sight, but the insects escape the poison by moving to other rooms or taking refuge behind light switches, picture frames or baseboards. They can travel 15 to 20 feet to feed, so a new hiding spot will not keep them from their sleeping prey. Repellant sprays, such as those containing pyrethrins, have the same scattering effect that in the end makes the problem harder to combat.

Contact sprays can work, but only on those that actually get sprayed. Also, it is not guaranteed that all bugs that come in contact with the spray will actually die. When insects survive a dousing, they produce resistant offspring.

A female bedbug lives six months to a year and lays an average of 500 eggs, at a rate of three to five per day. Eggs hatch in 10 days, with the young reaching sexual maturity 30 to 45 days later.

"They develop resistance really fast because their life-cycle is really fast," Walker says.

Further, a female only mates once and afterward moves several feet away from her original colony.

It only takes one fertilized female to start a full-blown infestation. And that single bug can live for more than six months on just one meal.

"It's a challenge for the pest management industry and if you know it's a challenge for us, what does the homeowner do when he gets ahold of the pesticides?" Walker says.

People resort to extreme measures to eradicate bedbugs because it is a frustrating and demoralizing experience, Walker says.

For many people, the bed is a safety zone, the place where they hid from lightning storms as children.

"Here is an insect that invades that safety zone and feeds on you at night while you sleep," Walker says. "People do some really drastic things to deal with this issue."

Part of the problem is the high cost of treatment. Many people, including minimum-wage hotel and motel workers who are most at risk, cannot afford to pay $500 to $1,500 to get rid of their pests. They either live with the problem and spread it, or try, usually unsuccessfully, to control it themselves. When homeowners do not have the financial means to hire pest control, they should at least consult an bug expert with the county extension service for advice before attacking the problem on their own.

"The solution is they've got to find some cost-effective method of dealing with this insect," Walker says. "Right now there's not a cost-effective method that's available to the general public that is also effective on the bedbugs."

Pest Control, MA ,  Pest Control, RI

"If people are hoping that the bed bug infestation will be killed off by cold winter conditions, they are in for a bad surprise," says Leonard Douglen, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Pest Management Association.

"Bed bugs live indoors with their human hosts," says Douglen, "and the same warmth that keeps our homes and apartments comfortable in winter provides the same condition for them. Moreover, a bed bug, after taking a single blood meal, can live for up to a year without another one."

"Termites, too," says Douglen, "enjoy the same conditions when they set up a colony in a home or other structure. This explains why in the springtime they emerge in the thousands to fly off and create new colonies. Most homes in New Jersey have been hosts to termite colonies for three years or more before they discover an infestation.

Outdoor colonies simply head below the frost line where their large numbers and stored food keep them comfortable until spring arrives."

Honey bees use the same strategy says Douglen. "They cluster together as the temperatures get colder and use their collective body heat to stay warm and protect their brood."

"Ants also burrow deep below the frost line in the same way. If a home or other structure has a colony of Carpenter ants, the same conditions exist as for the termites and, of course, they have a constant source of food. Cockroaches, like ants, are provided with plenty of warmth and food by their human hosts."

"Insects," says Douglen, "have had millions of years to develop ways to over-winter. Some like the Monarch butterflies flies thousands of miles to Mexico to wait for warmer weather to arrive in the northern climes."

Douglen explained that insects that are susceptible to freezing avoid it by generating their own antifreeze components. "The same ingredient in automobile antifreeze, ethylene glycol, is the most common chemical found in insects that use this mechanism to survive."

"This survival mechanism is called diapause," says Douglen. Since insects are essentially little bags of water; the smaller the amount of water they contain, the greater their ability to cool without freezing. Those that generate their own antifreeze will be around in the spring."

The smaller the bug, like ants, insect eggs, or tiny spider mites, can survive easier than larger ones. Larger bugs like grasshoppers can fall victim to colder weather. Yellow jacket queens and other wasp species will over-winter in the eaves under roofs of homes so they can emerge in the spring to create an entire new colony.

"Different insect species have different survival strategies," says Douglen. "The praying mantis survives as eggs while Wooley bear caterpillars will curl up in leaf litter for the winter. When spring arrives, the caterpillars spin their cocoons. Whether as eggs or via hibernation, insect species have been surviving harsh winter conditions for millions of years."

Douglen recommends that homeowners in particular have regular inspections of their property to ensure "that the various areas in and around a home do not become places where a variety of insects, some of whom can inflict thousands of dollars of damage, can be identified and protected against infestations." Homes, Douglen adds, are also invaded by rodent species such as mice who seek warm places to overwinter.

Source: New Jersey Pest Management Association

Pest Control, MA ,  Pest Control, RI

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You think treating your own bedbug infestation is a smart thing to do? Surprisingly a number of people do! I sort of understand why they are doing it, to get some sort of relief from the bites. What people do not realize is that it will make the problem worse by chasing/spreading the bedbugs into other areas. The over the counter pesticides are repellents and they push or repel bedbugs.

The attached photo shows an epically infested mattress and just beside the bed in the trash can were two empty aerosol cans of insecticide. Do you think it worked? There were thousands upon thousands of bedbugs & eggs on the mattress + box spring. Note all the blood stains (black marks).

Needless to say, do not try this at home! Leave bedbug control up to the experts like EHS.

Bruce Lopes Jr.
Service Manager

(click image to enlarge)

With bedbugs, clutter = failure! Not adequately preparing for a treatment will almost always cause failure. It does not matter if it is an EHS specialist doing an inspection, a K-9 inspection, treatment, etc. you NEED to prepare. I know it is a royal pain and extremely tedious but it is a critical part in the elimination process! EHS provides a full preparation sheet in 5 languages and a video on how to prepare so you can get it done right.

Here I am in a unit that “was prepared” for a treatment. There was so much stuff that I could barely walk around let alone treat it! Bedbugs are insidious pests that can & will get into the smallest crack, crevice, and item. Trust me, the better you prepare, the better the outcome. The alternative is to be married to the bedbug infestation for way too long.

Mark Tremblay
Service Specialist

Just another day in the world of bedbugs! This is a massively infested box spring loaded with thousands upon thousands of bedbugs in all stages. If I had to guess I would say there were over 50,000 eggs on the mattress plus  box spring and another 5,000 live bedbugs! Now you are probably asking yourself “WHY IN THE HELL WOULD SOMEONE TOLERATE THIS?” The honest answer is that I have zero clue!

The infestation was over a year old and they did not report it at all, they tried treating it themselves. Obviously quite unsuccessfully! Two adjacent apartments were getting bitten and that is how we uncovered this. In our company training we are taught that “pests do not know property lines” and we should always inspect adjacent units and areas. This does give you a glimpse into why bedbugs are such a major problem in society, a population grows out of control for one plus years then this person inadvertently shares the infestation wherever they go, then the bedbugs spread to adjacent units/areas, and before you know it you have a major outbreak.

With bedbugs it is like when you are sick, early detection & treatment are vital to beating the issue!