You can download it by clicking here (2MB PDF).

Bed bug infestations are on the rise and increasingly showing up in virtually any concentrated public area, including hotels, homes, apartments, shelters, and public transportation—to name a few. In response to this public health threat, CPMA and the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations have put together the Bed Bug Symposium, Friday, March 5. This one-day meeting is geared toward anyone working in the hotel/motel industry, campus facility maintenance, hospitals, nursing homes, furniture rental companies, federal and provincial governments, etc. From identifying bed bugs to public affairs issues and the legal ramifications, we have gathered internationally recognized experts on the bed bug issue to provide management tips, both preventative and corrective, to help you make informed decisions and stay out of the newspaper – and the courtroom.

The Bed Bug Symposium is taking place in conjunction with Pest Management Canada, but is a separate program. It is not necessary to register for the full convention to attend the Bed Bug Symposium. However, if you are registered as a full attendee, you can attend the Bed Bug Symposium without paying an additional fee. Please refer to the registration form for the registration rates or visit www.pestworldcanada.net for online registration.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Keynote Presentation:

The Reality of Bed Bugs

Dr. Dini Miller, Virginia Polytechnic

Institute State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Bed bugs are back and in recent years, property managers and the hospitality industry went from never having seen a bed bug to now being a common occurrence. Keynote speaker, Dini Miller, will discuss reasons for resurgence, current status of infestations, legal and psychological effects, public health aspects, and the role of the pest management professional. Identification, inspection and prevention tips will be provided, along with suggestions for dealing with incidents and staying out of the media.

10:45 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Industry Challenges
Representatives from the Canadian Pest Management Association (CPMA) and the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA)

Bed bugs are one of the most challenging pests to control and they cannot be viewed as just another bug – the control strategy is a process rather than just a single task. This session will cover specific issues related to bed bug management, including the legal, regulatory and public health consequences of a bed bug infestation. At the conclusion of this session, you will be provided with guidance on how to select an experienced pest professional.

2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Developing an Action Plan

Sean Rollo

There is an overwhelming need for a bed bug action plan, yet there is no national formula available. Sean will walk you through inspection techniques, what to do when an incident arises, communicating with customers, develop and implement an action plan, ongoing monitoring and prevention, and resources available. This session will give you the guidance you need to maximize your efficiency while minimizing your time spent on research.

3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Ask the Experts

Panel discussion with representatives from the Canadian Pest Management Association, the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations and other pest management professionals

Our panel of experts is available to answer your questions in a forum designed for an open discussion. Want your question to be anonymous? No problem. Throughout the day, you will have the option of discretely submitting written questions. Of course, there will be opportunity for those who wish to ask questions directly. This is where you will be able to get tips from the experts and have them expand on the day’s educational program, as well as share your specific story.

The City of Winnipeg is warning the public it may use chemicals to control “structural pests” such as bedbugs and cockroaches in public places this year.Under the terms of the city’s environmental licence, Winnipeg’s insect control branch must issue a public notice before it applies pesticides to public places.

So earlier this week, the city issued a notice it may use the insecticides bendiocarb, cypermethrin, permethrin and hydramethylnon to kill bugs if the insect control branch discovers any in city-owned properties.

The city issues the same warning every January, regardless of whether there are any actual infestations, said city entomologist Taz Stuart.

“I don’t want to cause panic,” said Stuart, who calls the warning a routine notice that would pave the way for any spraying or baiting of bedbugs, roaches, silverfish, ants, termites or wasps. “All of these fun little things full under the category of structural pest control.”

Ants may be the most common “structural pest” in Winnipeg. Several species expand their colonies every June and make brief forays into buildings, Stuart said.

Wasps are also commonly found in city buildings, while the other pests are less common. The city had a termite infestation in at least one location in the mid-1990s, Stuart said.

There have been no reports of bedbugs in city properties, he said, despite the increasing frequency of bedbug infestations around the world.

All but eradicated from public places in developed countries by the mid-20th Century, bedbugs have re-emerged as a public nuisance of near-epidemic proportions because of a combination of factors that includes increased international travel and the more discriminate use of pesticides.

Bedbugs have infested Winnipeg care homes, university dorms and apartment buildings. In other cities, they’ve been found in subway systems, luxury hotel rooms and corporate boardrooms — their presence is not necessarily connected to hygiene.

If you suspect bedbugs have come into contact with you but your home is not infested, there’s an easy way to stop the insects from propagating without having to dispose of any clothes, Stuart said.

“Throw them in the dryer. The heat will kill all stages of the bedbug life cycle, including the eggs,” Stuart said. “Put them in dry and they won’t shrink.”

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Jeff White of Bed Bug TV shows us how the monitor is made.

Here are some screenshots of the quest to rid bed bugs from the bed of one of the characters in the game.

Here is the info from the PCT Article:

Pest management professionals, property managers, facility managers and others throughout the country will join bed bug researcher Dr. Dini Miller, associate professor at Virginia Tech University, for a free interactive Webinar entitled “A Whole-House Approach to Bed Bug Treatments.” Hosted by the PCT Media Group and sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).The Webinar is a unique opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with a comprehensive and efficacious treatment strategy. They will learn more about the need to communicate effectively with residents, which Miller describes as one of the major bed bug treatment challenges she’s observed. Topics to be covered include:

• Fumigation and heat treatments for successful bed bug management.
• Communicating with customers.
• Inspecting for bed bugs.
• How to treat hard-to-reach locations.
• Conducting container fumigations using fumigation chambers for treating household items.
• Breaking the language barrier (including tips for working with Spanish-speaking clientele).
• Case studies: Reviewing successful comprehensive bed bug treatments.
• Looking ahead: the future of comprehensive bed bug control.

CLICK HERE to register.

PCT Media Group is hosting a series of one-hour Webinars – live multimedia events designed to assist its readers in building their businesses. A broad range of industry experts will be featured in these monthly learning sessions.

You can check out a preview of the segment here: http://www.doctoroz.com/. Just click the “Friday” tab on the right-hand side of the screen. We will send out a link to the full video when it becomes available.

Previously, Dr. Oz was a featured health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for over five seasons, spanning 55 episodes. He is also Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

As always, thank you for visiting our site and be sure to check out the episode on Friday Nov. 20^th. Show times in your area can be found on the Dr. Oz homepage: http://www.doctoroz.com/.

Bed Bug Identifier by Nuvenco LLC

Available via iTunes in the App Store under the Travel section.

Toronto is experiencing a dramatic spike in the number of bed bug infestations, according to a new report.

The report, funded in part by the city and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term care, found that over an eight-month period in 2008, Toronto Public Health received 1,500 reports of bed bug infestations.

For all of 2003, in comparison, the city’s public health department received 46 such complaints.

The report says a rise in infestations isn’t unique to Toronto — Ontario towns like Ottawa, Owen Sound and London have also been hit. Meanwhile, New York City and even some cities in Australia have reported similar spikes in the past five years.

More than 100 people —including social workers, MPs and landlords — crammed into a conference room at City Hall on Monday to discuss the report’s findings with its authors.

Wide variety affected

Sean Meagher, one of the authors, blamed the increase of infestations on a lack of awareness of how to deal with bed bugs. He said the problem affects a wide variety of dwellings, from university student dormitories to swanky hotels and low-cost rental housing.

Those who have had to deal with infestations have been hit hard, he said.

“People suffering from bed bugs frequently experience shame, fear, isolation and insomnia,” he said.

“Many face serious economic consequences, including loss of income and loss of work. The cost of eradications can run into the thousands of dollars and the replacement of infested household items are also expensive.”

Meagher said the bugs are notoriously durable.

“Bedbugs can live, breed, hatch and carry out their entire lives while still being exposed to … pesticide used for bed bugs. Bed bugs have even shown resistance to DDT.”

‘Psychologically terrorized’

Toronto resident Fionna Blair is one of the unlucky ones to be hit by an infestation.

Two years ago she started getting mysterious bites. She soon found the culprits — bed bugs in her sofa.

“They hide very well and only come out at night,” she said.

It took lots of money, time and energy spent cleaning, fumigating and even caulking the space between walls and baseboards before Blair got rid of the bed bugs. But even now, she can’t be sure they’re all gone.

“They can stay dormant for a year and a half, so they leave you psychologically terrorized … Perhaps you don’t have them, but perhaps they’re just hibernating until they come out again,” she said.

The problem could get out of hand unless the government steps in to co-ordinate the response to the infestation, said Meagher.

“It will impact all parts of our city. And the failure to act will result in wider infestations and more costly responses. Consistent use of best protocols can and will work, but co-ordination and education are needed to make that possible,” he said.

The problem can only be meaningfully solved, he said, through “extensive public education to ensure early identification and the participation of governments, landlords, medical professionals, institutions, as well as residents.”

SHENANDOAH, Iowa —

An Iowa inspector has ordered the Days Inn in Shenandoah closed because of a bedbug infestation.Crews spent their lunch hour on Thursday changing carpet inside the motel as a sign outside declared that the business was closed for remodeling.Former employees said that wasn’t the real reason that the motel was shut down.”My manager told me there was a bedbug infestation,” said a former employee who asked to be identified as Aubrey.Several former employees at the motel told KETV NewsWatch 7 that the problem has been going on for months.”There were just spots of blood on, I’d say, 90 percent of the sheets,” Aubrey said. “We’d have to replace the sheets all the time.”

KETV NewsWatch 7 learned that an Iowa inspector heard a guest complain about bedbugs on Thursday morning. A search of the guest’s room found multiple insects and the business was immediately closed.”We washed everything and they put it back in circulation,” Aubrey said. “Washing sheets doesn’t kill bedbugs.”The motel has been inspected three times since May. It passed inspection in the spring, but was found to be out of compliance in July for dirty rooms. A July report also noted there was no pest control certification.The manager denied Thursday morning that the sudden closure was because of an infestation, saying that the motel was being remodeled. The manager was unable to respond to questions about the inspector’s report later in the day.The motel will remain closed until a certified pest control company can prove that the infestation is gone.