Feds Waking Up To Nightmare Of Bedbugs

EPA Hosts Summit To Address Nationwide Outbreak Of Tiny Reddish-Brown Insects

(CBS/ AP)  The federal government is waking up to what has become a growing nightmare in many parts of the country - a bed bug outbreak.

The tiny reddish-brown insects, last seen in great numbers prior to World War II, are on the rebound. They have infested college dormitories, hospital wings, homeless shelters and swanky hotels from New York City to Chicago to Washington.

They live in the crevices and folds of mattresses, sofas and sheets. Then, most often before dawn, they emerge to feed on human blood.

Faced with rising numbers of complaints to city information lines and increasingly frustrated landlords, hotel chains and housing authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency is hosting its first-ever bed bug summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The venue - the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington - has had no reported bed bug problems, according to a popular online registry, so at least conference participants will be sleeping tight.

"The problem seems to be increasing and it could definitely be worse in densely populated areas like cities, although it can be a problem for anyone," said Lois Rossi, director of the registration division in the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs.

One of the problems, according to researchers and the pesticide industry, is that there are few chemicals on the market approved for use on mattresses that are effective at reducing bed bug numbers.

The EPA, out of concern for the environment and the effects on public health, has pulled many of the chemicals that were most effective in eradicating the bugs from the U.S. over the last 50 years - such as DDT - off of shelves.

Increasing international travel has also increased the chances for the bugs to hitchhike from developing countries which never eradicated them completely.

"This is a worldwide resurgence," said Dini Miller, an entomologist and bed bug expert at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who until 2001 only saw bed bugs on microscope slides dating from the 1950s. Now she gets calls several times a day from people who are often at their wits end dealing with the problem.

"I can't tell you how many people have spent the night in their bath tubs because they are so freaked out by bed bugs," Miller said. "I get these people over the phone that have lost their marbles."

Bed bugs are not known to transmit any diseases. But people have had an allergic reaction to their bites. The insects release an anticoagulant to get blood flowing, and they also excrete a numbing agent so their bites don't often stir a victim's slumber.

In a recent review of research on the pesky critters, researchers reviewed 53 recent studies on bedbugs and their health and medical effects. The results showed that although bedbugs have been blamed for the spread of up to 40 different human diseases, there is little evidence to suggest they are carriers of human disease.

Those often hardest hit are the urban poor, Miller said. These are people who cannot afford to throw out all their belongings or take the sanitation measures necessary to rid them of the problem.

Because the registration of new pesticides takes so long, one thing the EPA could do is to approve some pesticides for emergency use, Miller said.

The pesticide industry will be pushing for federal funding for research into alternative solutions, such as heating, freezing or steaming the bugs out of bedrooms.

"We need to have better tools," said Greg Baumann, a senior scientist at the National Pest Management Association. "We need EPA to consider all the options for us."

[toofeminine]

OMG just came across this story, i got back from a nightmare trip to chicago. the hotel we stayed in was infested with bedbugs. the whole family got bites on our legs and bodies. the hotel manger was a jerk, now i have to email the hotel chain to complain. next time i stay in a hotel, i will be prepared and make sure i check the bed and room more carefully

[ilovejesus1971]

ughhh !!! i live in staten island in nycha apartments and i cant take it with these bed bugs and its funny that im the only one in my house to be getting bit instead than again i rather than my son whose ten and my daughter whose one years old but i cant afford to throw out my couch which is upholstered !!! my sons mattress and bed got rid of that but his counselor bought him a new one just a mattress and box spring with the frame they tell you how to get rid of them but you still wound up with them again !!! im on a fix income and housing i believe doesnt use good on top of the line stuff to get rid of bed bugs really like the exterminators use .... i hope we can get this undercontrol like everything else thats coming around as well !!!!

[CnUHerMeNow]

This article was hysterical. So, only the urban poor can't afford to throw out their belongings? We worked for a long time to save up for our king sized bed. Since we're "middle class" we can afford to just throw it out? Just like everything else, the government will do nothing and people will suffer. This is a government "By the government and FOR the government" and nothing will ever change.

[barbaram99]

We slay home. The only thing that I can think of is seal the mattess in a plasic zipp thing if they still make them. It keeps it clean. Nasty bugs.

[raskal_2]

In the old days they would use a glass dish put oil in it and sit the leg of the bed in the oil this made an oil moat that the bedbugs could not cross. If you look at the old furniture of the turn of the century you can see the oil lines at the bottom if the legs. Any one want to go into business to make bed bug moats.?

[The-Wrongs-of-Man]

Reminds me of neo-cons - can't get rid of 'em.
Posted by Stuart2560



And they're every bit as impervious to repellants as Republicans are to logic.

Happily, the ossified hacks in the GOP are dying off on their own, in great droves like dinosaurs, being that they're allergic to the Third Millennium.

Bedbugs could prove to be a more persistent nuisance. Hard as modern science may make things for them, they might still be around come November 2010.

[roach9703]

EPA conference on bed bugs. Why not allow a limited use of DDT? This compound can be used in limiting disease where it occurs such as malaria.

[The-Wrongs-of-Man]

This bedbug infestation should not be blamed on Obama. He inherited the problem from Bush.

[The-Wrongs-of-Man]

This bedbug infestation should not be blamed on Obama. He inherited the problem from Bush.

[scottyusa]

Oh my it's the invasion of the bed bugs! What we need is a bed bug czar to head the war on bed bugs. I have never been bitten by one but that is not unusual because they travel in hordes so there is no way they will all sit back and watch one bug bite you. It is mostly a surprise attack (yes this is war) on a human at his/her most vulnerable time. These bugs are nothing short of being terrorists invading from within. Obama will call for swift action and give the czar the authority to use the secret weapon (DDT).

[ultraliteflyer]

I'm puzzled why the republicans are upset. They claim that they want LESS government regulations. AS the saying goes, "be careful what you wish for, it may come true"!

[sogaman]

The story is reason #4 on my list for why wife and I are RV folks, sleep in our own bed when traveling.

[Questionews]

Anybody been to Mexico on vacation? Advice--take a can of raid with you. We bailed on the hotel, bought sleeping bags & a tent and slept in campgrounds. Bummer trip, but at least we can back with most of our blood.

[mswolfestock]

Trust me on this one - the only thing more gross and disgusting than bedbugs is crabs.

[dbstevens]

I had a serious problem with them after I bought what I thought was a new mattress in New York. I later found out it was an old "reconditioned" mattress where all they did was put a new outer layer on an old mattress, bedbugs and all. It turns out that was a very common problem. ZombieJeebus is right, it was several months after I bought the mattress that I had the problem. They'd been slumbering I guess. When I found out about it, we tore open the mattress before getting rid of it, and found an unbelievable infestation of them. They made it illegal to sell mattresses like that later.

[ZombieJeebus]

The problem with bed bugs is that the little monsters can live up to 3 years with no food - essentially a prolonged hibernation. All it takes is the smell of a warm snack to wake them up.

[Missyriver]

Are the mattresses being made in China?