“Bug Off!: Sandhills Isn't Immune to Bedbugs”

Bug Off!: Sandhills Isn't Immune to Bedbugs

Posted: 18 Sep 2010 10:59 AM PDT

Cockroaches don't even come close. Head lice? An annoyance.

Perhaps only rats carrying bubonic plague elicit greater revulsion than bedbugs, the descriptive vernacular for cimex lecturlaris. The species that annoyed Aristotle now flourishes in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and points between.

Not here, of course. No way.

Wrong. These vampire varmints — irrespectors of social, financial and educational status — are sucking blood in the Sandhills.

Kerry Tremblay, of Antex in Pinehurst, reports urgent calls from residences, businesses and at least two moderate-price lodging establishments whose names remain strictly confidential.

Although bedbugs are not associated with poor sanitation or hygiene, the stigma is stupendous.

"I wouldn't tell if I had bedbugs," Tremblay says. "Would you?"

Discourse, however, compelled U.S. Rep. G.K Butterfield to propose the Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite Act of 2009, which authorizes $50 million to fund inspection and extermination procedures in lodging facilities, public housing and other institutions.

"Mr. Butterfield was ahead of the curve," says Saul Hernandez, the congressman's spokesman in Washington.

Butterfield mounted the charge when he heard of a family bitten at hotels in Greensboro and Raleigh. After a year, however, the bill remains pending in committee.

How could this happen? Aren't bedbugs deadbugs?

Bedbugs, a common scourge in the 1940s and 1950s, were virtually eradicated by DDT and pesticides now deemed environmentally unsafe. The bloodsuckers maintained a presence abroad and in pockets within the United States. Less-effective pesticides plus an increasingly mobile world population turned the wingless insects into frequent flyers.

Apple-seed-sized bugs creep from hotel, dormitory, hospital, nursing home bedding, furniture and carpeting into suitcases or even socks left on the floor. Soon the hardy creatures are up, up and away.

Loss of a host isn't a problem, since bedbugs can fast for a year. They have recently appeared in dry cleaners, ritzy stores (Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch in New York), movie theater seats, schools, cruise ships — wherever they find crevices to hide and humans to bite.

According to Terminex, New York, Philadelphia and Detroit are the most-infested cities, although Dayton, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., have denser concentrations.

Ohio tops the buggiest state list, but North Carolina is not immune. Tremblay traces the bedbug route up the I-95 corridor, starting in 2006.

"They began to spread through this area, but not as heavy as other places," Tremblay says. "We've seen an uptick in calls during the past 10 months — 60 percent residential, 40 percent commercial."

According to industry figures, the amount spent on bedbug control has risen in five years from less than $1 million to $250 million.

You can enjoy the complete story and more by picking up a copy of the The Pilot at your local newsstand or call 693-2490 for home delivery, to subscribe online click here.

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Bedbugs Bite

Saturday, September 18, 2010