“Vigilance urged on bedbugs” |
| Posted: 25 Jan 2011 09:10 PM PST Big as an apple seed, with the stealth of a minute cat burglar, this bug has a bite whose itch can "make you think poison ivy is nothing." So says Carl Massicott, owner of Advanced K9 Detectives of Milford, Conn., whose army of eight dogs travels the nation to ferret out bedbug infestations. Whenever he's been bitten, he said, he has an itchy welt for a month. The little bug, with a bite most people associate only with the "night-night, sleep-tight" rhyme, has become a big pest that's feared by homeowners, tenants, landlords, and operators of universities, hospitals, hotels and even prisons. The entire nation is scratching for information, if not solutions to what's been described as a bedbug "pandemic" and "perfect storm" that's proven as difficult to control as the bugs are to find. On Tuesday, 200 people attended a Bed Bug Awareness & Control Seminar at Clarion Hotel in Green Tree. The event, sponsored by Witt Pest Management of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Health Department, worked to educate property managers about being vigilant and arm them with ways to deal with the infestations that are becoming more common by the day. The health department's guidebook, "Preventing and Getting Rid of Bed Bugs Safely," is designed to help property owners, managers and tenants avoid infestations while urging immediate and comprehensive action when they do occur. Treating an individual room, for example, will send the bugs fleeing into surrounding rooms and cause the infestation to spread. The publication also offers strategies to detect and eliminate the bugs, while providing tips on selecting and working with pest-control professionals. Bill Todaro, health department entomologist, said his office receives five to six calls a day about bedbugs. There's no surefire way to prevent bedbugs. But if a complaint comes in, his office will provide information then follow up with an inspection weeks later to assure the landlord took action to eradicate the bugs. If not, the landlord could face a fine. Twenty-five percent of people do not suffer noticeable effects from a bedbug bite. The bug uses an anesthetic to prevent detections. Bites, usually occurring on skin exposed during sleep, can range from a small bump to a large, itchy welt that can lead to scarring and even psychological trauma. In unusual cases, the guidebook notes, welts may persist for weeks. Usually an anti-itch ointment will help. If bites become infected, people should seek a doctor's care. "The anxiety about being bitten can lead to sleeplessness, which can affect one's wellbeing," the guidebook says. It also can lead to desperate acts, including using poisonous levels of pesticides to kill the smart bug that's really good at hiding. Attorney Jeffrey Lipman of Des Moines, Iowa, detailed several lawsuits in the Pittsburgh area litigated successfully against property owners as a result of bedbug infestations. He said property owners and managers should have insurance riders addressing bedbugs and programs in place to remedy any infestations that occur. A single female can lay 500 eggs in her lifetime. Eggs hatch in 10 days. Bugs mature in two to four months and can live one year. Total eradication is necessary to avoid reinfestation. Chances are high that anyone managing an apartment building will encounter problems with the prehistoric creatures that have been secretly feeding on humans throughout our history. "I think the problem in Pittsburgh is worse than it shows to be," said Mr. Massicott, whose fleet of dogs will soon grow to 12. He now has a dog working in Pittsburgh. His dog already has searched for bedbugs in a local department store, office buildings, hotels and even trucking companies. His dogs have done detective work in a $20 million home and a private jet, proving that bedbugs don't discriminate by income. One assisted-living apartment, not in the Pittsburgh area, had such a bad infestation that areas of the wall were black with bugs, he said. Other places of concern include used-furniture and second-hand stores. The seminar panel of six experts used big adjectives to describe the bug-sized crisis. The problem is "exploding," Mr. Lipman said. "It's a growing pandemic requiring urgent action by all stakeholders, or Pittsburgh will be in the exact same place as New York City," said Mark Braun of RxHeat, a manufacturer of electric and gas-powered heaters used to kill bedbugs. "This is a global problem." Adam Witt, vice president of Witt Pest Management, said the goal is to turn bedbugs into dead bugs. That generally requires a pest-control professional who can use monitoring devices or dogs to detect them then follow a strategy to eradicate them if detected. Other recommendations include caulking cracks in walls where bugs can hide, and encasing mattresses, box springs and pillows in plastic to kill bugs inside and prevent infestation. "It's definitely here," Mr. Witt said, noting his company receives 10 bedbug calls a day. "It's almost a perfect storm with Columbus, Philadelphia, Dayton and New York all having infestations. And we're right in the eye of the storm." David Templeton: dtempleton@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1578. First published on January 26, 2011 at 12:00 am This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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