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Thursday, 02 September 2010 |
By MITCH TRAPHAGEN
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“Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!” was a depression-era phrase that almost every baby boomer grew up with. I had never seen a bed bug, but as a child when my parents would say that phrase I imagined an enormous bug with fangs. To this day I have yet to see a bed bug, despite occasionally staying in questionable lodging in questionable cities and countries over the years.
Bed bugs are back — and in a big way. They aren’t huge creatures with fangs but they are insidious and almost impossible to kill, although they were very nearly eradicated in the United States years ago. DDT kills them but it also kills a lot of other things. The collateral damage in the bald eagle population was too much for our nation to bear. Yet even after it was banned, bed bugs largely faded away — until now. They are back and they are badder than ever.
Center for Disease Control photo
Once nearly eradicated in the United States, bed bugs are back with a flourish. Cities across the country are seeing an increase in infestations in both homes and businesses.
A few weeks ago, during a visit to New York City, a Times Square theater beaconed. Given my limited time in the city, a Broadway show was out, but seeing a movie in the fabled (and crowded) destination had some appeal. After a day spent running around, however, the appeal was lost in favor of just lounging in my temporary apartment. A few days later I unfolded the New York Times as my flight departed for Tampa and was suddenly grateful for my laziness that night. The day after I had considered going to the theater, it was closed. The theater — a modern movie theater — had closed due to a bed bug infestation. To me, that is straight out of a B-grade horror flick, being eaten by bugs in something as innocuous as a movie theater.
The theater wasn’t alone in their tribulation. Not long before, a Manhattan Victoria’s Secret and a Hollister store were also temporarily closed due to bed bugs. The potential for bed bugs in bras is certainly added gist for that horror flick. Then the news reports appeared about bed bugs in the Empire State Building. By some estimates up to 30 percent of all homes in the city have bed bugs and they do not discriminate. Bed bugs are equally happy feasting upon the poor and the wealthy alike.
Newspaper stories from around the country have heralded the re-emergence of bed bugs. Terminex, a national pest extermination company, has certainly noticed it. They went so far as to release a list of the 15 hardest hit cities based on call volume to their offices. Surprisingly, none were in Florida, usually a welcome and hospitable place for almost any insect. New York City topped the list as the city with the biggest bed bug problem but Ohio garnered top billing for being the only state with four cities on the list. The glitz and glamour of California wasn’t spared with Los Angeles coming in at number ten. And apparently bed bugs appreciate a little discourse and disagreement: Washington, D.C. was listed as the ninth most infested city. Minneapolis, a city known for being “Minnesota Nice” is seemingly also nice for bed bugs. It rounded out the list at number 15.
Despite the absence of Florida cities on the list, bed bugs have arrived in the Sunshine State. According to a recent article in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, exterminators in South Florida are reporting that calls for help with bed bugs have increased from one or two a month a few years ago to almost daily now.
In a call to a Terminex office in Tampa, the representative confirmed that calls about bed bugs have increased recently. “Calls have increased all over,” she said, referring to the national network of offices. “It’s almost like an epidemic.”
No one knows what has caused the sudden re-emergence of bed bugs, although the ease of global travel and the lack of an effective over-the-counter pesticide certainly play a role. Once bed bugs have found a home in your home, they are almost impossible for the non-professional to kill. They hide effectively, coming out at night to feast upon their sleeping victims. Worse, they can go up to a year without feeding at all. The best solution is to not let them into your home at all.
In New York City, some people warn against brushing up next to strangers in the subway, a difficult task in the best of circumstances. For travelers, the best advice is to not even take the most expensive hotel for granted. According to a website named Bed Bug Registry, New York City hotels charging in excess of $350 per night have had reports of bed bugs. As a traveler, the defense is to take a moment to inspect your surroundings, keep your luggage away from cloth-covered furniture and then wash and dry everything upon returning home. Heat kills the critters — washing everything in hot water and ensuring 15 or more minutes in a hot dryer could provide some peace of mind.
Bed bugs aren’t known to transmit disease or physically hurt you beyond a mosquito bite-like welt. The stigma of having bed bugs is the cause of the real pain. One man told the New York Times that “people don’t want to hug you anymore, they don’t want you coming over.”
The Center for Disease Control doesn’t track the psychological aspects and so does not consider the pests a health threat. The recent re-emergence, however, has caught their attention. Last month, the CDC issued a joint statement with the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss issues in bed bug control. It is possible the growing epidemic and the increased news coverage will yield a safe and effective over-the-counter pesticide, but until then, if your home has succumbed to bed bugs, your best weapon will be your telephone to call a local exterminator.
Once nearly eradicated in the industrialized world, bed bugs are back with a flourish, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss a good movie or a show on Broadway. You might just want to see if the place has been fumigated recently and then stop by your trusty washer and dryer before crawling into your own bed at home.
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