Just one of many scary bed bugs stories

RENTER: "When you wake up covered in bugs, something is wrong"

Posted: Aug 31, 2011 12:04 AM EST  

Updated: Aug 31, 2011 7:28 AM EST  

Posted By WRCB Staff

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) - A Chattanooga family says their apartment home is infested with bed bugs.
Lenora Millrang has lived at The View apartments off I-24 overlooking downtown Chattanooga for the last two years.
"I mean when you wake up at 4:00 in the morning and you're covered with bugs, something is wrong," said Millrang.
Millrang's niece, who did not want her face shown, has lost count of the bites that stretch from her back to her toes, making everything in between itch.
Minutes before she talked to Channel 3 outside the family's apartment, the young woman scooped a bed bug from the kitchen counter to show us what caused her scars.
"That's about the smallest one I've ever seen," she said, referring to the dead bed bug on a sheet of notebook paper, about the size of a watermelon seed.
Millrang says she spotted the first bed bug a few months after moving in.
"If one apartment has got them, they've all got them," she said.
The company that used to own the complex, named for its scenic view of Chattanooga, tried to get rid of the bugs.
"They came out and sprayed four or five times," said Millrang, "they never got rid of them."
A new property manager now operates the facility. They too have sprayed, most recently last week. Millrang says that is why her belongings have made a home on her patio.
"I've been doing this for two years, I have complained and complained and lost furniture," she said, tearing up, "I had to take all our clothes (to the dry cleaners), it cost me $400, money I won't get back."
The majority of first level units are empty. Millrang says she's been told everyone may have to move out, but she's not sure where she would go.
"I have no where else to go," she said, "I live on a fixed income."
A property employee talked to Channel 3 by phone Tuesday and assures us they are doing everything they can to exterminate the problem.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/15364066/apartment-home-swarming-with-bed-bugs

Coming in September: National Bedbug Awareness Month

Dold of Illinois will help host summit in Chicago in late September.

August 27, 2011

THE PATCH

September will mark the first National Bed Bug Awareness Month in which U.S. Rep. Robert Dold, (R-Ill.) and 10 of the foremost bed bug experts from across the country team up to create videos, articles and interviews geared toward helping the public fight back against bed bugs.

Organized by BedBug Central, this educational campaign serves as a comprehensive response to the continued spread bed bugs throughout the country. National Bed Bug Awareness Month will kick off Sept. 1 with the launch of an interactive, online tutorial series and culminate with the North American Bed Bug Summit being held in Chicago from the Sept. 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare.
According to the president of BedBug Central, Phil Cooper, National Bed Bug Awareness Month is an important step in educating the public about bed bugs as the pest takes root in untouched regions of the country.
“Last year bed bugs received a tremendous push in awareness due to constant media exposure. However, this year awareness is stagnating, not because bed bugs have gone away, but because they are not receiving enough coverage,” said Cooper. “In the war against bed bugs education is still critical. This campaign is aimed at creating awareness in a more engaging and interactive way.”
Research entomologist and doctoral candidate Richard Cooper of Rutgers University has been championing public education as crucial element in the war against bed bugs since 2003. Cooper acknowledges that while there is increased awareness, actual education is lacking.
“The initial lack of public education and awareness enabled bed bugs to spread and become a major problem in the United States,” said Cooper. “Although awareness that bed bugs exist has vastly improved, education has not. There are still myths and misconceptions that allow bed bugs to continue to spread. Without the proper education, prevention is not accomplished and the spread is not stemmed.”
To engage the public better, BedBug Central has collaborated with Howcast.com, a media company specializing in online how-to videos, to create 14 online videos with research entomologist Jeffrey White who is also the host of BedBug TV. White provides basic bed bug facts as well as instructions and tips on how to help prevention and treatment.
The videos will be released periodically throughout September along with informational articles and interviews with leading entomologists throughout the nation. U.S. Representative Robert Dold (R-Ill.) will also provide interviews on the government’s role in combating bed bugs.
“During the past three years bed bugs have proven to be an extraordinarily complex pest to deal with on a large scale,” said Dold. “In order to develop both practical and effective bed bug treatment methods, leaders in government, the private sector and even local communities will need to collaborate closely to find long-term solutions. The work being done at this summit is a step in that direction.”
The North American Bed Bug Summit represents the culmination of National Bed Bug Awareness Month. The summit, officially titled BedBug University: North American Summit, will bring together 26 of the leading entomologists and bed bug experts from around the world together with a cross-section of affected industries.
By gathering stakeholders such as government agencies, colleges and universities, health care, hospitality and multi-family housing under one roof, entomologists and experts will able to provide an educational blue-print for dealing with bed bugs across a variety of sectors.
The Summit will also demonstrate over 70 of the latest bed bug technologies including all-natural bed bugs sprays such as Stop Bugging Me!, entomologist approved mattress encasements such as Protect-a-Bed™ and BugZip Luggage Protectors.
National Bed Bug Awareness Month will begin Sept. 1 through Sept. 27 where it will conclude in Chicago with the three-day summit. For more information about bed bugs and bed bug awareness visit www.bedbugcentral.com. To learn more about the North American Bed Bug Summit visit http://www.nabedbugsummit.com/summit/.

(http://geneva.patch.com/articles/coming-in-september-national-bedbug-awareness-month)

Bedbugs go online: Website launched to educate students on crawly nuisance

Bedbugs go online: Website launched to educate students on crawly nuisance

Vik Bhardwaj 

Posted: August 25, 2011 - 12:11 AM

Updated: August 25, 2011 - 12:42 AM

Due to an increase in bedbug cases on campus, a student group has partnered with the federal government to raise awareness about the pests.
A web-based, jointly-funded partnership was forged this summer between the Student Sustainability Committee and The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture, called the bedbug Integrative Pest Management, or IPM.
Its website, educates students about pest prevention and management, as well as keeps the public informed about what they’re working on to squash any problems.
Last spring, University housing took action when a student reported a bedbug incident and was told to evacuate from her dorm, Evans Hall.
After the project launched, pest monitors were placed around campus. If bedbugs are found, the location is immediately quarantined, which takes seven days to 21 days or longer.
If a case is found in non-University housing, it is up to the tenant and the landlord to resolve the issue. Students can ask their landlord to exterminate for bedbugs, said Nancy Dietrich, Tenant Union housing counselor.
If they are having trouble convincing the tenant to assume the cost, Dietrich recommends telling the landlord that it would be best in their best interest to deal with extermination costs while the bedbugs are in one unit rather than an entire building.
Bedbugs are six-legged, wingless creatures about a quarter of an inch in size; they are also visible to the naked eye. Even though these insects feed on blood, they are relatively harmless, as their bites don’t spread diseases.
Warning signs can include blood smears and fecal matter on clothing, bedsheets or other places they might be living on. They can go months at a time without food and also, due to their size, can easily hide in the cracks of bed frames, headboards, light sockets or the linen seams of mattresses.
One way the pests get around is by way of luggage, said Andy Blacker, Facilities and Services Specialist.
“Bedbugs are hitchhikers,” Blacker said. “We advise the student population to be mindful of their surroundings and not bring them back.”
Awais Vaid, an epidemiologist with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, said he has noticed fewer calls and complaints about bedbugs this season.
After learning of these parasites, Max Crouse, sophomore in LAS, said he has taken precautions. He took it upon himself to buy a mattress cover because bedbugs would be a “distraction that no one wants to deal with.”
According to Vaid, additional personal bedbug prevention includes pulling the bed away from walls, wrapping duct tape around bed legs, vacuuming on a regular basis, washing clothes and bed sheets in hot water and putting them in the dryer on high heat for at least 20 minutes.
Vaid said he does not advise using over-the-counter methods of dealing with bedbugs. He said they can develop resistance, as well as spread to other apartments by doing so. Instead, he urges people to call an exterminator.

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Travel Guide: Check in, then check out these helpful hotel tips

By PAULA SIROIS
www.RetailMeNot.com

Published: Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 - 3:09 am

If you're planning on traveling this summer, here are some hotel room tricks that you simply need to know:
1. Everyone has learned their fair share about germs, bedbugs and all things creepy and gross in hotel rooms. But there's something you can do besides cringe. The moment you enter your hotel room, put down your stuff and pick up the remote(s). Soak a towel in hot water and soap, wring it out and start cleaning them. The remote is one of the germiest items in your hotel room and often overlooked by the cleaning staff. Next, grab a soapy towel or antibacterial wipes and, starting at the front door, wipe down the door handle, locks, phone, microwave and fridge handles, toilet seat and handle, desk drawer pulls and light switches. Seem like overkill? Well, it should only take you two minutes at best, and you'll feel 100 percent more comfortable when you touch the same thing that thousands of others have touched before you.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/08/3823129/travel-guide-check-in-then-check.html#ixzz1USudmeXi

Woman Blames Times Square Theater for Bedbugs

But the theater says a recent test shows no signs of the critters.

By Andrew Siff

|  Thursday, Aug 4, 2011  |  Updated 2:54 PM EDT

NBC

One Manhattan woman claims she got bitten by bedbugs at a Times Square movie theater, but the theater says recent tests show no evidence of the blood-sucking critters in the building.

Still, Laura Perkins has a vivid description of the round, red sores on her back.

"It's like chicken pox on steroids," she said. But it's not chicken pox, and the only steroid involved is a cortisone cream she's been using to stop the constant itching.

"This is from a bedbug," Perkins told NBC New York. "It feels like a bruise and takes two weeks to go away."

Perkins said she knows from experience. In 2008, while living in an apartment in Harlem, she got bitten repeatedly by bedbugs.

Three years later, now living in Morningside Heights, Perkins says she fears she got bitten at the AMC Empire 25 Theatres in Times Square. She attended the multiplex with her husband on Saturday to see "Friends With Benefits."

"It was date night, and it was a good movie," said Perkins, "but about halfway through, I started itching."

A spokesman for the theater chain, Ryan Noonan, told NBC New York Perkins' concerns are misplaced.

"We take aggressive, proactive steps to ensure our theatres remain free of bedbugs," Noonan wrote in an e-mail. "During the month of July, weekly inspections were conducted at AMC Empire 25 by a third-party pest control agency. The most recent inspection, conducted July 31, was performed less than 24 hours after a guest had voiced concern about the issue. All inspections revealed no bedbug presence in the building."

However, two doctors contacted by NBC New York said after reviewing photographs of her bites that the marks appear to be consistent with bedbugs. The question is where she got them. Could it have been the subway? Her apartment? A restaurant? Or the theater?

In the past year, several moviehouses in the tri-state area have had confirmed bedbug sightings. AMC Empire 25 had its own confirmed case in August 2010, and has since ordered regular inspections.

 

party of 5: Bug Off Review { GIVEAWAY }

party of 5: Bug Off Review { GIVEAWAY }:

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Bug Off Review { GIVEAWAY }

giveaway will end on 8/14/11 at 12pm EST

** I was sent this product for my family to review. All opinions are my own**

 

If you haven't heard already, British Airways recently had a bit of a scandal with bed bugs. One young lady got bit over 90 times on two flights, and after an investigation, the airline grounded two jets to fumigate and clean.Bug Off seat covers (http://www.bugoffseatcover.com/) are the must-have travel accessory for any jet-setter – or family taking a vacation or trip to the movie theater! With the scare of Bed Bugs creeping up on air line, bus seats, and movie theaters these simple seat covers provide a barrier between you and your clothing from the public seating. The Bug Off seat cover will ensure these nasty bugs don’t come in contact with your clothes or skin, and prevent you from carrying them back to your own home. These seat covers are made from 100% recycled polypropylene and can be easily thrown into your purse, travel/weekend bag, or the diaper bag. The seat covers are only $2.99 and are available on BedBathBeyond.com. Amazon.com, and more! They are a simple, inexpensive way to protect yourself from bed bugs and other germs while traveling!

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