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September 20th, 2010
11:41 AM ET
No end to bedbug infestationsSummer may be over, but bedbugs don't seem to have ended their vacation in New York. Their latest hideout is the 95,000-square-foot Niketown store in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Nike told CNN the company closed the store because of the presence of bedbugs. A sign posted over the weekend said the story is "temporarily closed until further notice," according to CNN affiliate WABC. In a major space like that, seven to 10 days of treatment are recommended to eradicate the vermin, says New York Magazine. The pest control company Terminix has rated New York the number one bed bug city, according to WABC. Elsewhere, bedbugs are going back to school: at Lehigh University, four dorm rooms were found to have bedbugs, CNN affiliate WFMZ reported Friday. Those rooms are being treated, Lehigh officials told WFMZ. Hotel owners and guests alike are freaked out by the possibility of bedbugs. The horror stories are building up on websites such as The Bed Bug Registry and BedBugReports.com. The bugs leave behind itchy bite marks on the skin, and some people have allergies to them. Bedbugs tend to live within 8 feet of where humans sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means that if you're a hotel guest, bedbugs can get in your suitcases and come home with you, says Howard Russell, entomologist with diagnostic services at Michigan State University. You might want to consider keeping your luggage in garbage bags to prevent bedbugs from becoming stowaways. It's not as easy as just waiting for the critters to die, since bedbugs can live for one year without eating. Check out this video to find out what the government is doing to combat the problem. |
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
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Sorry, I believe what a doctor gave me in Frankfurt, Germany, last year was steroid cream. It worked pretty fast. This year a doctor in Dubrovnik gave me antibiotics. It worked fast.
yeah dont bother to ask bedbugs to show their papers they dont have enough $ to buy & store junk away, so i dont think illegals would have brought them into us b-4 u do anyposting please ask ? how to spell correctly it wont do u any harm but to teach u
jackwagon.
New York, Everyone hearts New York right? Why shouldn't the bedbugs?
Not funny Dude... Not Funny
🙂
I live in upstate NY and have had two friends with this problem...they got them from hotels (one in Philly and one in Florida)...it has been a nightmare for both of them. The exterminators said they could not guarantee anything because they can lie dormant for a year! They had to throw out their mattresses and couches. Pull all the furniture away from the walls too. They put their clothes, comforters, blankets, pillows, etc... in trash bags and put them in a spare car (thank god it was summer) to "bake" them and kill them.
My one friend suggested, if you go into a hotel room...only one person should enter first....have them lift up the mattress to check...if you see any bugs or even what looks like mold (she said that could be their feces) leave the room...if you have to stay there, get a room as far away as possible. She said to never use the dressers or closets for your clothes...if they have that metal stand for your suitcase, put that in the bathtub and then put the suitcase on that....it sounds extreme, but they have spent thousands of dollars so far! Good luck!
im hunting bed bugs........I have yet to find any. This means that this whole thing is a HOAX and you people are brainwashed idiots that will believe anything that is said
You need to get some training in hunting! I've caught more than 10 ALIVE from my apartment!!
I would wake up every morning with bites all over my body, but I never saw any bugs. One night I searched my entire room, flipped over my matress and looked under the bad, behind posters, nothing. That night I woke up maybe 2-3 hours after I fell asleep, turned on the light, and there was a bed bug on me (it was dead cause I must have rolled over it in the night)...so they're there, you just won't find them until they are biting you
I got it from a room mate who recently traveled. because of it, I developed an allergy to peanuts 🙁 & nothing seem to help the itch.
For those who live in colder states (Minnesota for example) it helps to put things out in the cold on those very cold days. That is how I got mine out. I turned down the heater in the apartment, opened the screen doors and windows. Put out all couches and bedding. This was done for a night while I steam cleaned the carpet.
This just means you can stay in your place for a day or so but it worked magic for me.
Once this was done, I put all beddings I was not using in a zip lock storage bag & put them away for a long time. When I took them out, they were all gone.
WHO CARE ABOUT ALL CAP? ITS A MESSAGE BOARD OVERUN WITH STUPID ANYWAY.
just get over it. there are worse things out there. like bedbugs, apparently...
It is a lie that their bite is harmless. May develop an alergy and some have had really bad staph infections associated with repeated bed bug bites!
The DDT thing is a MYTH!
It's a story repeated by conservatives to show that if we just would stop the government from interfering then things would never go wrong and no one would have bedbugs.
Except that they stopped using DDT to treat bedbugs before DDT was banned. Why? Because bedbugs had grown resistant to DDT and they had to start using other chemicals.
I don't worry about bedbugs because I'm positive my roaches can take them!
Dude, that's just not right. 😀
LOL!!
Notice how all the immigration increase and illegal immigration with unsafe house and overcrowding coincides with this epidemic like so many other epidemics when these people are not vaccinated. overcrowding and unclean and unsafe condtions brings every type of outbreak. I hate to sound buigoted because I am not but we need stricter controls on housing, immigration and who is going to our public schools. PS everyone should be required to see their doctors, notably skin doctors before entering th country and entering school. The board of health must check all these cases out.
You are prejudiced against immigrants, or you would realize that 1) We are all immigrants. Find out who in your family came here, from which countries, and when. It's probably not very many generations back, and I'm sure your background involves multiple countries. You might realize today's immigrants are no different from you and your family.
2) Immigration has nothing to do with this. People travel around the world enough that bedbugs would spread anyway.
Event a complete halt to immigration would not solve the bedbug problem.
Just do it! Exterminate!
check out a post I wrote on social media outbreak on BedBugs content for August....
http://blog.us.cision.com/2010/09/a-bedbug-outbreak-in-social-media/
Comparing to hotel review sites like Trip Advisors etc – bedbugsregistry.com has more concentrations of stories. Why the difference in volume and attentions? http://blog.us.cision.com/2010/09/a-bedbug-outbreak-in-social-media/
"Bedbugs tend to live within 8 feet of where humans sleep" – exactly the point. People aren't sleeping in all these retail establishments that are being overrun with these creatures, they are coming in on employees who have homes infested, and they will continue to come in on employees until the employees HOMES are treated, which no one can probably afford. This is doing nothing more than putting a bandaid on a gushing artery. The city is going to have to find away to provide free treatment, or at least greatly reduced fees, for everyone in the city – that won't happen until the infestation has gone on for years.
Just for your information some people in Africa actually spray themselves with Raid (whatever Insecticide at hand) so that they don't get bitten.
DDT is not dangerous when used as an indoor vector control. It sticks to any surface and does not become airborn. You people don't even know that DDT has NEVER been connected with any diseases. That includes the knuckle heads who want to blame DDT for diabetes! Really. Sugar causes diabetes.
oh geeze, the DDT guy again. You use on yourself. LOL.
My only issue with this article is this, if you work for CNN and/or get paid by CNN for this article. Or you want to be credible in what you are talking about in your articles. Please spell correctly and use proper English grammar. Store: is a place of business, Story: factual or fictional narrative.
mmmm I love a few bedbugs sprinkled over my salad...it's tasty!
The reason it is spreading is due to the ease of how they spread and the ignorance and apathy from certain people.
My roommate had bug bugs at his previous apt, but didn't give a crap on researching what was biting him (and leaving blood stains on his pillow cover).
So he brought bed bugs to the new apt and I am pretty sure the new apartment also came with bed bugs. The previous tenants seemed to be extremely filthy due to the condition of the apt when I first saw it.
Even after I told him it was bed bugs he did exactly 0 seconds in research. He didn't care at all and I was stuck with the job of arguing with the apt and setting up the exterminating.
My roommate is a pretty friendly person and gets along with almost everybody, but as a roommate he is terrible. Also as a human being he is a pest as he doesn't care about spreading the bed bugs (willing to invite people over to an infested apt).
Exterminations costs are pretty high up there and also the time investment/stress hits pretty hard.
Bed bugs were eradicated years ago in the U.S. – but they there are so many of the unwashed legal and illegal aliens coming by the millions that bed bugs are a problem again. With all the other diseases and infections that are also being brought in and spread by the unwashed, bed bugs are probably the least of the problems.
That comments is so racist, so biggoted, so incredibly ignorant. Reminds me when White southerners used to say ALL lice came from blacks, THOUGH every study has now proved lice is mostly a white thing as lice do not usually nest in black people's hair. My mother in law was a elementary teacher in the poorest neighborhoods of Savannah and she recalled how during every lice inspection it was always the white kids the ones that carry lice. And now, she is not black.
And let me tell you, I have driven through Southern Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana....and I am pretty sure I saw plenty of filthy, dirty white trash. I am also pretty sure the trailer parks and "motel dwellers" filled to the rim with this white trash are ten times dirtier.
You even watch cops? How about Horders? Plenty of filthy, dirty white people in there.
Also, bed bugs need darkness and mild temperatures to survive. Crossing the hot, Arizona desert would kill most of them.
The reason for the "return" of the bed bugs is more likely be triggered by wide spread use of air conditioners that make any room a wonderful, ambient control, home for the little bastards.
You dumb yokel.
I dont think its just hotels. I think these bugs are also coming into the US in goods made outside of the US. Many of these goods have places/corners for these bed bugs to hide. I believe that once we opened up trade in some of these other countries some of these suckers (and others like them) have had free run to enter our country....
This just goes to show you.... that NY is disgusting lol
Well, if it is that bad in NY, imagine what must be like in Atlanta.....or New Orleans.....or Orlando.....or Birmingham ....or Mobile...
Do some research tree huggers!! DDT hype was WAY OVERBLOWN with false reports and very weak scientific data. DDT was pretty safe and it actually WORKED!!!!...HEY YOU GOTTA LOVE THE IGNORANT LEFT...
I worked for an international real estate and facilities management corporation (as a facilities operations manager) contracted to serve the facilities needs of a 3000 person call center for a major Fortune 15 bank in Northern Kentucky and actively fought the "Bedbug Wars" in the cubicles at 3AM with the Terminex man. The stress from managing this issue combined with the animosity between the bank's local business management and the banks remote facilities management and being asked to keep a set of internal records and a different set for OSHA and others caused me to resign.
Wow, a 3,000 person call center. I think my bank only has a 2-person call center and they're always on vacation.
You should have put in a little call to OSHA about that.
Ha! I didn't know Citi had a bug problem! LOL!
Hi everyone. I have read everyone's post on this bed bug issue. I have been dealing with an infestation at my home for over 2 years. We have sprayed, sprayed, and sprayed. We have used several different products to spray. Me and my husband saw a pest control commercial by Yates Astro that they would come in and spray the whole house and would guarantee me to come back if I saw anymore. Well, they have came back twice, since the first initial spray. I feel so helpless. They are a nuisance, and I just want to get rid of them. If they would bring DDT back, I feel that would wipe them out....but who knows....nothing has seemed to help so far.
University of Texas at Dallas apartments (managed by Waterview) are infested with bed bugs and management is telling those impacted to bring in proof (i.e. a bug) of their existence in their apartment. Seriously! Fess up to the problem and take care of it!
Dirty pigs bring bedbugs.
bring back ddt those bugs are nasty spreading like wildfire ddt caused problems with nature not going to be used outside . pest companies dont want you to take care of it ourselves cause they'll lose money.
Any suggestions for the stinkbug infestation in Pittsburgh?
Sleep Tight – Don"t Let the Bedbugs Bite
Hey guys, will you visit SaveStan.ORG a friend of mine with 4 young babies is fighting for his life..... Thanks
I think Americans need to work on their hygiene.
Gross stuff.
most sites about these bugs says they came from other countries but has nothing to do with how clean you or your home is the bug likes blood not nasty homes
This beg bug issue has nothing to do with cleanliness. You need to do your research before commenting on something that you evidently have no clue about.
Bedbug be da work of da Debil! Only Jesus can rid u of da bug!!
i think we should just embrace them. there is evidence to show that bugs which are loved and embraced, are happier bugs. either that or get a night job and sleep during the day. i do believe they are nocturnal.
Bedbug be da work of da Debil! Only Jesus can rid u of da bug!
Those vermin suck especially places as "majestic" as that area . Yet thanks be to God that he supply the victory , roman or not. Surprised nike not making roman type sandles yet maybe after the clearance.
Those vermin suck especially places as "majestic" as that area . Yet thanks be to God that he supply the victory , roman or not. Surprised nike not making roman type sandles yet maybe after the clearance
Hey, I heard that marijuana renders bedbugs harmless. In fact, it turns them into cute pets - but you have to keep them stoned!
Heh bb4e,
You're obviously not a scientist because you obviously don't know what proof is required to be called "definitive". The proof you refer to were from association studies linking blood levels of DDE, a long lived metabolite of DDT. I looked up those studies and no where did I see words that DDT causes those problems you mention. The reason is because scientists who do these association studies know they can never prove cause and effect. Furthermore, they are very small studies and no second or third studies were yet been conducted. Cancer e.g., breast cancer has been ruled out as an effect of DDT exposure after attempts to reproduce original suggestive positive data with additional studies didn't yield the same results. That's what would happen if second or third small studies were carried out to study the link with diabetesa, miscarriage, etc. They wouldn't be able to confirm it because it is doubtful that it causes any harm. DDT has been used in India and other countries for years and except for the problem that it bioaccumulates over time in the body, it is one of the safest pesticides/insecticides ever marketed or used.
I am not a racist or a bigot but a realist. The one common denominator that all of these hotels have is the cleaning staff. Many from Mexico and other 3rd world nations. That is were these are coming from. These countries do not inoculate their kids against common diseases and they sure don't bother to eradicate bedbugs for the common good. They don't even take care of their neediest citizens via welfare programs. Unfortunately these businesses also have cleaning staff and employees from the same places bringing them in on their persons. No one wants to track this because it's not PC. I don't care to have bedbugs in my home and would rather not be PC in discussing the truth of it. I have heard a couple of news sites cite that they are coming in with people who visits these countries. Sorry but there are not enough US citizens making those kind of trips to account for the mass infestations that are happening so quickly.
You ARE a racist and a bigot. Quit blaming the Mexicans for everything. And before you ask, no I'm not Mexican. I'm white, blonde and American. And you are still a racist bigot.
Yes Walex, what Jess said: You ARE a racist and a bigot. Your comments are not only politically incorrect but ignorant.
350+ million people in the US... and you think none of them travel much? Ha. Good one.
The common denominator is that it's a HOTEL with new guests EVERY NIGHT, bringing new luggage and items that are infested, and spreading the bugs when they go to their next hotel. Hello! By the way, until you get your own job cleaning hotels, you can stop complaining about who's cleaning the hotel.
When I was a poor college student, some B..i..tches sold me a used couch that had bedbugs in it. I couldn't figure out where I was getting all the mosquito bites from. Then one day, I found a live one on my shirt. I couldn't sleep for a week. It was the creepiest thing knowing these ugly little things would come out and suck your blood. My advice...NEVER EVER buy used beds, couches, or anything of the sort. Sleep on the floor if you are poor!!
So has anyone thought about the eggs of these critters being transported via plane in the cargo holds and overhead compartments? Theoretically, these little eggs could spread onto luggage could they not? Just a thought. Perhaps the airlines need to look into some precautionary steps.
Sorry, but this is going to be a big post, yet again, because there's so much ignorance to the bed bug problem that's it warrants a big comment:
A big reason why bed bugs are spreading and becoming more of a problem is because people don't take this pest problem seriously and that includes the media/press as the evident in the way the writer/reporter of this article characterizes bed bugs.
In this report, they're described in cutesy, amusing ways such as bedbugs not ending their vacation, bedbugs going back to school. I know, it's just small clever ways of describing the problem, but in truth its not funny and such "cutesy" terms only helps the public to set aside this problem as just a funny thing that hasn't affected them… yet.
And that's where the solution to this problem is – it's in the problem. The public shouldn't be just dealing with them when they get them, they need to take action in preventing them and taking this bed bug problem very seriously.
Not until you actually have dealt with the problem you'll understand, maybe you should have the problem. I mean, you may be able to avoid it. It will reach you. Because you're careless, you joke about it, you think it strikes the poor and homeless, etc.
But oh-man, it just struck NikeTown… THE elite, uppity clientele sports shoe boutique in the world. What does that tell me?
That someone brought in the bed bugs. They either sat in the chairs trying on shoes or working there, possibly the fitting rooms. Most likely bed bugs took to the chairs and counters… and even probably hid/lived in the shoe boxes. So, whom ever bought fancy expensive Nike's, took them home, if just sitting trying on the shoes one bed bug didn't already hitch a ride into the creases of those baggy pants and or fancy purses.
But in Nike Town's defense, the problem may also have originated in its neighbor's. Other businesses or apartments around Niketown could have started or been part of introducing the problem to a high profile store like Niketown.
And you know, its not just retail establishments that these bed bugs settle into, its the subways, the taxi's, the cars. the trains, the buses, the movie theaters, the libraries, the dorms, the condo's, the modest apartments, the offices, the cubicles, the reception desks, the conference rooms, the waiting rooms, the hotel rooms, the hospital rooms, the airplanes, the boats, cruise ships, amusement partks, the horse stables, the dog sofa's, the farms, the factories, the schools, the classrooms, the baby sitters, the day care centers, the gyms, those newscaster desks, etc., etc… etc.
They do NOT strike only low income or homeless areas, they strike where ever warm blooded animals exist.
These bed bugs can bend many don't know what hits them thinking they just got a rash and the itch that doesn't stop. And suddenly you've noticed that you've scratched your upper skin off, then causing an infection and leaving a mark. But its a bed bug bite and not just one on the hand or feet, but several.
ALLERGIC REACTION NOT ALLERGIC REACTION
A misconception and I think something that needs to be changed is that some are allergic to the bites. How do you know you're not allergic if you've not been bit? So then does that non-allergic person gets continually bit and could have a serious infestation they never know of? That would be insane and a big part of the problem but its not. Everyone will get an infection because of the over-scratching a beg bug bite induces.
Bed bug bites don't cause allergic reactions. They bite, release saliva that numbs the bite so they can feast while you don't realize its happening, they are so flat and light that you don't feel them on your skin and and then you feel an pin like itch, if you're awake, then notice a red rash with a slight bump and it itches. Or when you're asleep, you don't notice them but you start scratching that itch around your feet, legs, arms.
Then, when you wake up, you continue itching that spot or spots. Then the itch feels itchy all the time and you scratch, and scratch and that causes the skin to break and their's your "allergic" reaction which its not, its an infection caused by the over scratching.
You shouldn't just reach for the Aloe Gel, which honestly, not even Caladryl or a visit to the dermatologist will help.
A retail place, or any other place that has or will shut down due to bed bug treatments like Niketown will have to implement a continues long term maybe even permanent bed bug prevention program to prevent problems. But once they find at least ONE bug, they will need to shut the business down again.
But will they? Will any business shut down like this for ONE bug? No. Because its not worth the cost and loss of business. Because they will ignore it until it becomes a problem and almost invisibly, they will help to spread this problem again and again.
And USDA trying to develop a pesticide is fine, to an extent, because too many pesticides can also be a health problem, its a bad balance. I don't like the spraying of any pesticides but what can you do. But ultimately it will also take the public responsibility to fight and prevent any bed bug problem.
I haven't read all the replies here, but one interesting "conspiracy theory" I heard was that the lagging economy took it's toll on the pest control business, and that exterminators were "planting" bed bugs here and there last year and the year before, and it has now gotten out of control.
I'm just repeating what I heard ... not speaking from fact or specifics. Only a suggested possible reason as to how the bed bugs had such an incredible re-emergence.
I doubt this is accurate. A lot of pest control companies won't even treat bedbug infestations because the chances of eradication are so slim and time-consuming.
If you live in the parts of the country where temps dip well below freezing, you can freeze bedbugs of your bedding etc. Just throw everything outside for 24 hours and then give your items a good shake or vacuum.
Same when you return from trips, leave your bags and clothing outside or at least in the garage.
raid will not get rid of bedbugs, it will only make you sick. DDT did not eradicate bedbugs; if it had they wouldn't be so prevalent. they are very resistant to pesticides and have to be treated professionally and then measures have to be taken to prevent them. cleanliness has nothing to do with it, but clutter doesn't help prevention.
after i found out i had them (i think they came from used furniture bought in an antique store) we had a professional treat our apartment. it took 2 treatments over 2 weeks. we had to wash and dry everything in high heat and then seal it in bags until the treatment was over. if something can't be washed or put in the dryer it has to be sealed for 18 months because that's how long it takes for the bugs to die without food.
if you spray all of your baseboards and furniture all over with murphy's wood oil soap and them wipe them down that will kill any eggs, nymphs or adult bugs it comes in contact with. then we treated the whole apartment with food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). it's perfectly safe for humans and pets and kills not only bedbugs but also gets spiders, ants and any other critters that invade your home. it also helps to remove wall plates and treat inside the walls with the stuff because they live in there and travel between apartments.
since it's harmless to humans (unlike raid) i keep my bed frame treated with it and i also keep my mattress in a full coverage allergy cover to keep them from nesting there as well.
if i ever travel i treat my luggage with food grade DE and keep my clothes in large zip lock bags to keep the little buggers from hitching a ride. yes, i'm paranoid, but i think it's better than having to try and get rid of them again.
Out of all the mostly misinformed comments on this article, this is the only one that has real valuable information about dealing with these nasty little creatures. I too went through hell dealing with bedbugs. I went through the same steps this person did, except I ended up moving out of my condo building after having treatments done, because the property manager would not talk to other residents to find out if they also had a problem. I'm convinced there must've been other residents in my building who had an infestation and didn't report it, and they travelled to my suite. Since the prop manager wasn't proactive about talking to residents and possibly treating other suites or the entire building, I moved. You can't just treat one apartment and not the ones around it. It's not something I ever want to go through again, and unless you have been through it you have no idea how brutal it is and the lengths you have to go to to get rid of them. Those who suggest spraying their mattress with Raid (tried it), or Tea tree oil, or using a hand steamer or a hair dryer... don't waste time trying to do it on your own, just contact a pest control professional and get started. DE is also a good suggestion, though it has to be used sparingly and from what I've read it can be harmful to respiratory system, you don't want to breathe it in. Using Murphy's Oil is also a good suggestion, and alcohol will kill them on contact as well. The best place to get info on how to deal with it is on bedbugger.com. Lots of useful tips and info. You can also share stories with people going through the same hell, so you won't feel so alone when you're freaking out trying to sleep at night and feeling like an isolated freak.
We had a bedbug problem caused by our neighbors who refused to get treated. It took close to a year to finally get rid of the bugs and cost us thousands of dollars. I live in constant fear of re-infection. We still have a lot of our stuff in storage bags and I wake middle of the night looking for the pests (even though we have been clear for over nine months). It is a nightmare that no one ever wants to live through.
They should start spraying malathion all over NYC.
damn immigrants bringing that crap here