The Bed Bug Resource has launched on Twitter !!!

Tags: Twitter

Source:  CBS2Chicago.com

They are smaller than your fingernail and come out at night. By the time you see them, it may be too late. That’s the case for a suburban family who says they were attacked by bed bugs inside their hotel room at a popular Disney resort. CBS 2’s Pamela Jones reports.

The family says they wanted a trip to remember. And they got that. But now, they’re warning people to check the beds in their hotels when they check in.

The home video shows that it started as a happy Disney World vacation. But the family says it ended in a red, itchy mess.

Melissa Pecina said bumps appeared after bed bugs attacked her in her hotel room.

“And I had a lot of them,” Melissa said. “I think I counted over 200 at one point.”

The Pecinas say they stayed at Disney’s All-Star Resort early last month and on the last day Steve Pecina woke up feeling as if something was biting him.

“I pulled the sheet off the bed that I was sleeping under and they were just crawling around on that sheet,” Steve said. “So they were between the sheet that was on top of me and the sheet that was underneath me.”

“And I don’t like bugs, so I was like I don’t even want to go look at them, I don’t even want to know they’re there,” Melissa said.

“It immediately just popped in my head it’s got to be bed bugs,” Steve said. “Because I squished them and blood came out.”

Bugs, they say, looked like ticks and can dig into the skin.

Bites Melissa says dotted her body in little lumps that appeared about a day after they left the resort.

“I noticed I had three bumps right here and they were really itching and I was like, hmm,” Melissa said. “And I got a couple more on my arm and I woke up Monday morning and I had them over my arm, over my lower back, down my hip.”

So far, Walt Disney World will not confirm if pests pestered this family. They wouldn’t even use the phrase bed bugs.

Instead their statement said: “The ‘traveling bug’ is an industry-wide concern. We have an extensive and aggressive pest management program, including trained entomologists on staff, as well as a thorough treatment process for rooms when there is a confirmed case.”

Some five weeks later, Melissa’s bumps are finally fading.

But with a young daughter and son so far unbitten, the Pecina family says their biggest concern is whether they’ve brought the bugs home in their luggage.

“It’s been kind of a scary thing,” Melissa said. “You know, it’s not something you would expect.”

The Pecinas say a housekeeping manager looked at the bugs and the resort refunded them for one night of their stay.

Experts say we are seeing more bed bugs in the United States now. It’s partly because they’re becoming more resistant to pesticides.

If you’re planning a hotel stay, check the beds, pull up the sheets and inspect the mattresses. And if you think you see bed bugs, ask to change rooms.

Tags: Disney

Source:  Physorg.com

Scientists here have determined that combining bed bugs’ own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs.

The researchers found that stirring up the bed bugs by spraying their environment with synthetic versions of their alarm pheromones makes them more likely to walk through agents called desiccant dusts, which kill the bugs by making them highly susceptible to dehydration.

A blend of two pheromones applied in concert with a silica gel desiccant dust proved to be the most lethal combination.

In the past decade, bed bugs have become an increasing problem in industries ranging from agriculture and housing to travel and hospitality, so much so that the Environmental Protection Agency hosted a National Bed Bug Summit in April of this year.

The species, Cimes lectularius, also is developing resistance to the insecticides approved to spray infested areas, treatments that belong to a group of compounds called pyrethroids.

Desiccant dusts that are sprinkled in infested areas, however, are among the oldest forms of insect control and are still considered effective killers as long as the bugs walk through them.

“Once we put the alarm pheromone in the places bed bugs hide, boom, they instantly started moving around and moving through the desiccant dust,” said Joshua Benoit, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in entomology studying under David Denlinger at Ohio State University.

“Consistently, the addition of a pheromone blend to desiccant dust was more effective than adding either chemical by itself or by using desiccant dust alone.”

The research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.

The two bed bug alarm pheromone ingredients are known as (E)-2-hexenal and (E)-2-octenal. When bed bugs are disturbed or excited, they secrete these two pheromones and tend to want to move around.

While some pheromones are known to attract species for reproductive purposes, these particular pheromones act more as a repellent, Benoit explained.

“These pheromones also can be bought from any chemical company. They’re well-established chemicals, are easy to make in the lab, and are readily available,” he said.

Two types of desiccant dusts were used in the experiments: diatomaceous earth, a naturally occurring, chalky substance, and a compound called Dri-die, made from a silica gel. Desiccant dusts are designed to disturb the bed bugs’ cuticle, particularly the waxy outer layer on insects that allows bugs to stay hydrated. Without the waxy protection, insects are more prone to dry up and die.

The researchers first tested the chemical combination on five bed bugs at a time for 10-minute exposures in petri dishes. They tested both types of desiccant dusts as well as each pheromone component alone and in a blend more typical of natural secretion.

Bed bugs exposed to Dri-die and a blend of pheromones lost water at a much faster rate than did bed bugs treated with the desiccant dust alone. The scientists found that bed bugs exposed to Dri-die alone lost 21 percent more water than untreated control bugs. Water loss nearly doubled with either (E)-2-hexenal or (E)-2-octenal applied alone and tripled with a blend of both pheromones.

Young bed bugs exposed to the combination died in about a day, three days earlier than control bed bugs. Adult female bed bugs exposed to the combination survived for about 6 ½ days, compared to females exposed only to the desiccant dust, which lived for an average of 17 days.

In petri dish tests, the scientists found that the combined treatments using Dri-die consistently worked better than those using diatomaceous earth at generating rapid water loss in the bed bugs.

Turning to a more natural setting for bed bugs, the researchers set up a small plastic container in which a folded piece of paper offered bed bugs a place to hide. Bed bugs tend to stay hidden in wall and floor cracks, moldings or mattresses by day and feed on human or animal blood at night. The researchers created this experimental habitat to see if alarm pheromones would bring bed bugs out of hiding.

After the bed bugs stopped moving within the paper, called a harborage, the scientists applied the desiccant dust followed by the alarm pheromone. They used the most effective blend of pheromones as determined in the petri dish experiments, as well as Dri-die, the more effective of the two desiccant dusts.

All of the bed bugs came out of hiding within five minutes of the application of the alarm pheromones, Benoit said. And the combination of a blend of pheromones and Dri-die reduced survival by 50 percent of both young and adult bed bugs, he said. At least half the young bed bugs were dead within 10 days, and about 60 percent of adult female bed bugs died within 40 days.

“Desiccant dust is messy, but it’s not toxic, so it can be used in agricultural settings, such as chicken coops, where bed bugs can be a big problem,” Benoit said. The dust method also can be used in housing, where it would be sprinkled on carpet and eventually vacuumed.

These results were achieved in small areas, but Benoit and colleagues hope the technique could also be applied to large environments infested with bed bugs. Benoit is reluctant to suggest the use of desiccant dusts with alarm pheromones until additional experiments are conducted.

“Before companies start selling desiccant dusts laced with alarm pheromones, more tests need to be carried out in room-sized arenas to determine any possible negative effects,” Benoit said. Even so, the researchers believe the use of alarm pheromones could increase the effectiveness of desiccant dusts and other kinds of residual insecticides used to kill bed bugs as well.

Benoit noted that repeated use of spray pesticides to which bed bugs are resistant boosts the survival of bed bugs with that resistance, forcing the use of higher and higher concentrations of toxic chemicals to eradicate the insects.

“We think that rather than pursue completely new pesticides, it’s better to use old pesticides in new ways,” he said.

Source: The Ohio State University

Tags: experiment, Ohio State, pheromone

Bed Bug Barrier

[Editor's Note:  I have not tested this product and cannot attest to its ability to perform as claimed.  As such this is not an endorsement.  This article is meant to bring attention to a new product on the bed bug scene and allow you to judge for yourselves.]

The Bed Bug Barrier is designed to prevent bed bugs from accessing people while they sleep. Bed bugs must climb into the bed if they are to find people and bite them, and this invention will trap them on route to their prey. The invention is a simple, effective and low-cost solution to the problem.

When the bed bug barrier is attached, there is no way for the bugs to get past it.

As they climb the legs, the bed bugs crawl up into the unit and become stuck in the strong glue barrier inside. The barrier glue is safe, non-toxic, and made from natural gums, oil and tree residue. The glue will last two years, after which replacement glue can cheaply and easily be added to the original barrier unit.

There are two versions of the invention so that it can be used on different bed types.

The Bed Bug Barrier prevents bites by blocking the bugs’ access to the bed. Bed bugs cannot fly. The only way they can get into a bed is by climbing onto it. It is possible to reduce their access by not placing beds directly against a wall, or leaving things such as luggage or power cords hanging down, but there is no effective way to block the easiest access route, the bed legs.

The Bed Bug Barrier is easily attached to the bed legs in a manner that is discreet and will not attract the attention of hotel guests. The bed bugs crawl up into the unit where they are trapped by an impassable barrier glue. The bugs cannot escape and will die inside the trap, out of sight of the room occupant. The barrier glue is made of safe, non-toxic gums, oil and tree residue, and will last for years before it needs to be replaced.

Video Clip

Available in North America via Mattress Safe.

Tags: bed bug barrier, mattress safe

PCT Magazine Educating PCOs On Bed Bug Treatment Techniques

PCT’s Dan Moreland and Brad Harbison preview the upcoming bed bug seminars featuring Dr. Michael Potter, Rick Cooper and bed bug legal expert Christian Hardigree. The seminars take place Aug. 4 (in Boston) and Aug. 18 (in Orlando, Fla). For more information visit  http://www.bedbugseminars.com/ or call 1-800-456-0707.

Tags: cooper, hardigree, PCT, potter, seminar

Source:  Kingston Guardian (UK)

Children from Coombe Junior School had to camp outside while their dormitories were sprayed with pesticide last week, after bed bugs invaded an activity centre.

Year 5 pupils were affected when Hindleap Warren in East Sussex was infested with bed bugs, closing down many of its 80 rooms, after an outbreak six weeks ago.

The father of one Coombe Junior pupil said: “The children are very disappointed because they could only go for a couple of nights.”

But David Nottidge, director of Hindleap, denied poor cleanliness was responsible for the outbreak and said visitors had been warned of the bed bug outbreak before they arrived. He said the local council had also been informed.

Pupils had been offered different activities due to the disruption and the school given a discount from £230 to £170.

Mr Nottidge said: “Bed bugs can take a long time to get rid off. Last week we decided to give ourselves a chance to clear the bedrooms. I’m confident the school would say it [the trip] went absolutely well.”

However he denied the outreach centre had a scabies problem.

Children from Claremont Fan Court School in Esher reported scabies infections from the burrowing mite shortly after returning from the centre but Mr Nottidge said he had no evidence the infection had come from Hindleap.

Bed bugs suck human blood and can be transferred from place to place by clothing, bed linen or furniture. They do not carry disease but their bites cause irritation and itching.

Tags: UK

Source:  NPMA

FAIRFAX, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) today expressed support for the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009, federal legislation aimed at helping to more effectively manage ever-growing infestations of the blood sucking pest.

Virtually non-existent in the United States from the 1950s through the late 1990s, the bed bug population has rebounded dramatically over the last several years, and infestations have now been reported in all 50 states and in a myriad of settings. Experts cite the use of more targeted pest-specific control methods and increased international travel as the primary reasons for the resurgence.

Introduced today by Congressman G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, the multi-faceted legislation provides critical resources to state and local officials to combat bed bug outbreaks in lodging facilities, residential housing and other settings. Specifically, the bill:

• Establishes a state bed bug inspection grant program within the Department of Commerce for states to use to help fund inspections of lodging facilities;
• Expands an existing grant program managed by the Department of Health and Human Services that already provides funds to states for cockroach and rodent control to be used for bed bug prevention and control;
• Requires public housing agencies to include in annual plans, required by the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, measures necessary for the management of bed bugs, similar to their current responsibility to manage cockroaches; and
• Directs the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the public health implications of bed bugs.

“NPMA strongly commends Congressman Butterfield for his leadership on this very important issue,” said Bob Rosenberg, NPMA’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. “His legislation will grant state and local governments, in concert with the professional pest management industry, the necessary resources to more effectively and aggressively manage bed bug infestations.”

The bill’s introduction comes on the heels last month’s National Bed Bug Summit. Hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the event drew almost 300 state and federal regulatory, public health, and housing officials, academics, landlords/property managers, pest professionals, and other key stakeholders.

The NPMA is the only national trade group for the professional pest management industry. For more information, go to www.npmapestworld.org

Tags: Act, Federal, NPMA

Source:  EPA

EPA’s National Bed Bug summit was held on April 14 and 15 in Arlington, Virgina.

• Final Agenda (PDF) (3 pp, 32K)
• Public Docket Available – EPA has established a public docket for this Summit under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0190. Speaker presentations, attendance sign-in sheets and public comments received during the Summit are available in the public docket, as well as any public comments submitted directly to the docket.
• The presentations made during the National Bed Bug Summit are now available in the public docket (see the instructions for accessing the public docket, above). During the first morning of the Summit, EPA provided remote access to the presentations via webinar. The 4 ½ hour webinar was viewed by 138 people. EPA is now solving software problems so that the webinar can be made available on this website in the near future.