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Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.
Orkin experts confirm bed bugs can be found in hotels, resorts, cruise ships, dorms and homes.
That's a phrase that parents and grandparents have been saying to young ones for years. But the words, unfortunately, are no longer just a bedtime formality.
As a bed-bug resurgence reaches national epidemic status, representatives from several government agencies -- including the Environmental Protection Agency's Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe --convened today at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. to kick off the second annual, two-day Bed Bug Summit.
Perciasepe delivered the opening remarks, re-telling his own personal encounter with bed-bug infestation at his daughter's apartment in New York City five years ago -- the beginning of the resurgence of the these blood-sucking insects. He said they "did not have a good approach" for dealing with this issue, and touched on the subsequent health, psychological and social tensions that emerged. His daughter at one point told him she thought she had lepresy. He acknowledged not only how it affected his daughter and family emotionally, but also how big of a problem it is "for our wallets."
Acknowledging the hefty price of thorough bed bug removal (it can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars) an application process is being opened up in the next few months for communities wishing to receive grants of up to $550,000 to alleviate the problem, especially in public housing and schools.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development hopes to solve the bed-bug problem by conducting outreach and promoting awareness. Steve Owens, assistant administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, says there are 300 products listed on their website, EPA.gov, that can be used on a bed-bug infestation. But Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association, says "only a handful" of those products can be used to actually exterminate bed bugs.
The summit will conclude tomorrow, after a two-hour session of formulating recommendations for a national strategy. These recommendations will serve as groundwork for the first steps in developing a national strategy for bed-bug control.
By the way, in case you were wondering, according to BedbugRegistry.com, there are no bedbug encounters on record at the hotel where the summit was held.
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I know this is a serious problem, maybe it's the raging blizzard outside but you have to laugh--a Bed Bug Summit!
Hey, this isn't about the gun law in South Dakota. Maybe that's next?
Maybe Pat Kenndey will come by an help shovel all that snow that was no longer supposed to exist?
Spanky, educate yourself there Spankster--it's winter. Who's Pat Kenndey?
Sorry Jody it was Robert. All them kennedys look alike to me. How about you, you get ahold of a copy of the School House Rock special "I'm just a Bill?" It was very descriptive regarding the branches of government. Maybe you could forward it to Schumer when you are done?
So Jody, what do you think, was Robert mistaken about the snow? Will our children know snow in their lives?
Are you cold out there in that big storm? It sure looks wintery. Not so much like an arid, dry desert wasteland.
It's nothing to laugh about when you realize that costs for treating bedbugs are going to surpass costs for treatment of AIDS…I went to the DC Bed Bug Summit. I was the only 'green person' there…(online at "ahealthyhomeinc.com") Turns out the EPA hasn't done any field studies on the efficacy of bedbug treatments…You can study them until you're blue in the face but if you've got a bed bug infestation, you need to be able to kill them now… Persistence, protocol and passion—those are the three ingredients necessary to get rid of bedbugs!!
Bedbug registry.com??
Seriously? What WILL they think of next? lmao
I don't know, Feisty......are these "job-killing" bed-bugs??? :)
Don't give them any ideas JoAnne! ;o)))
Clearly this is a waste of tax dollars and the GOP/TP better oppose any spending on bed-bugs.
Hey Feisty...How's it going up there with the ongoing "Snowmageddon"??
Hiya Grimey!
Thanks for asking - SNOWMAGEDDON is officially in FULL gear!
Left the office at 2:30 and just got home for what is usually a 30 minute ride! It was BRUTAL!
Happy to report, I'm home safe and sound and have all the 'supplies' we need to ride out the storm!
*cheers* ;o)
Weekly bedding cleaning, weekly thorough vacuuming, dusting and cleaning of all furniture, wall hangings and drapes within arms reach of your bed and a thorough vacuuming of your mattresses monthly is the answer. Immediate showering and washing of all clothes including the ones you are wearing and vacuuming of luggage once coming home after a trip also. This includes a day trip in an airplane. Bed bugs are everywhere we are for long periods of time.
ANybody else miss DDT?
Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone ... ;-)
My comment on this thread seems to have disappeared. But what a wonderful winter getaway a "bedbug summit" would be. Just think about it. All of the "field work" can be done indoors and under the covers. If you know what I mean.
Guess where the first infestation in the US was Reported? New York City..... in the UN building. How did a species that was almost completely eradicated in the US get a strong foothold again? Probably used a similar method of transportation as whooping cough did to break out in California. Or snakeheads used to get in our rivers. What wonderful gift will delivered to US next?
Hi folks! Bed bugs are extremely nasty ... I got bad bites two years ago in Sydney and I was "forced" to trash my whole suitcase to get rid of them. So as for me precaution when travelling is very important! Since last year I never leave for a trip without my anti bed bugs sheet. It protects me when I´m sleeping and it´s really effective against these blood sucking crawlies. You can find it on Amazon...Cheers.
Ahhhh,,,Republicans have finally came up with a job creation idea,,,,,,,,,Import millions of bedbugs and there will be a million job openings for hotel maids to change bed cloths, exterminators to spray the rooms, Potors to carry the luggage back out when guest find them in the rooms, They even suck blood so no more need to go to the lab for bloodwork thus eliminating a section of HCR
The best way to kill bed bugs is with heat. www.heattreat.biz The big problem is bed bugs are very good a developing resistances to chemicals. Further more they hide in places chemical applicators may not get to. Heat over 120 degrees kills them where ever they hide. This is an expensive process, but it is the only process that works.