Chicago vs. Bed Bugs

*Update (05/07/09): Text of the legislation is now available via The Library of Congress; the link to the Act below has been modified accordingly.

Breaking news, folks.  According to National Pest Management Association, Rep. G.K. Butterfield introduced the brand new Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009 (or H.R.2248) in the United States House of Representatives today.  Text of the legislation is not yet available through The Library of Congress, but according to NPMA

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.

Impressive. I’m so happy to see that this act includes a new federal grant program to fund inspection in lodging facilities as well as expansion of an existing grant program to allow funding for prevention and control methods in the public sector through the Department of Health and Human Services.   And I really like to see that the act accounts for our public housing agencies, which have, in my opinion anyway, been neglected and overlooked and underfunded when it comes to bed bug infestations for entirely too long.

I’m excited to see the full text of the legislation.  For now, we extend our wholehearted thanks to Representative Butterfield and to the eight cosponsors of the act (including Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois– thank you!!) for addressing the spread of bed bug infestations in our country.  And we commend National Pest Management Alliance for so readily supporting the act:

“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.”

Maybe we really are all in this together after all.  I was starting to wonder!

And thanks again, Renee, for the tip!

ABC7 News reported last night that a guest at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest in Arlington Heights awakened to find multiple bites on her body and at least three bed bugs in her bed during a recent stay at the hotel:

Angella Alston of Cincinnati says she was in Arlington Heights this weekend for a funeral staying at the Sheraton northwest hotel when she woke up to see her body full of bites. She stripped the bed and found three bed bugs on the sheet.

“I have nine bites on my right leg. I have nine on my right arm. I have like 12 on my left leg. And about eight on the inner of my left arm,” said Alston.

Unfortunately, what Angella Alston experienced this weekend is becoming a common occurrence, not just in Chicagoland, and not just in hotels, either.  Why?  Well, according to Bed Bugs: A systemic pest within society, a 2006 American Entomologist article written by Stephen A. Kells, it’s all about human interconnectedness.  Where there are humans, there are (and always have been) bed bugs:

Recent evidence shows several examples of systemic bed bug activity and illustrates just how interconnected society has become, emphasizing the need for this pest to be considered and treated as a pest of public health importance to be prevented.

Humans give bed bugs an infinite number of harborages and nesting sites, along with various modes and opportunities for them to move between these sites.

Temporary habitation sites are varied and include lodging establishments such as hotels or temporary resting sites such as movie theatres. Temporary sites may also include transportation venues, such as bus stations, airports, and taxi stands: locations where people remain seated or standing for varying periods of time (minutes to hours). Personal effects and baggage that are carried or stored in luggage racks, lockers, and cargo holds also function as temporary sites.

The hotel industry has received much negative publicity involving bedbugs. However, other more important temporary and reservoir sites need to be identified, particularly if infestations continue to be poorly regarded. The temporary site model does not apply exclusively to hotels; other examples include backpack hostels, homeless shelters, assisted living or treatment centers, and other institutions, including medical and psychiatric hospitals.

Kells makes some critical points here, folks:

• The single common factor in the spread of bed bug infestations is people.  We provide modes of transport, we provide hiding places, and we provide the preferred source of sustenance: our blood.
• Although the hotel industry continues to be targeted by the media as a primary source of bed bug infestations, other, less conspicuous venues are at least as susceptible to bed bugs and perhaps even more likely to contribute to the spread: hospitals, long-term care facilities, shelters, and many others.
• This pest must be considered and treated as a pest of public health importance to be prevented.

The good news, at least in terms of the recent incident at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, is that the hotel appears to be handling the situation in a manner that’s consistent with generally accepted best management protocol:

Antoinette DeLauro Smith, spokesperson for the Sheraton, said, “We have the room sealed as well as the nine surrounding it and our partners with Ecolabs, a pest control company, are on site doing the fumigating and sanitizing. The rooms will be closed for four to six weeks.”

These measures are incredibly important, because bed bugs can travel through walls and into adjoining rooms in any multi-occupancy dwelling.  But these measures are also incredibly expensive.  Imagine the revenue foregone by a month-long shutdown of at least ten hotel rooms during peak travel season!  Couple this with the cost of professional pest management services for all ten rooms, and then add the potential residual loss of revenue perpetuated by repeated media exposure, and the sum of it all equals quite a financial wallop for the Sheraton Chicago Northwest, doesn’t it?

I can’t help but wonder how long this can go on.  How many hotels can sustain this kind of financial blow before collapsing?  How many vacations will be disrupted or ruined or canceled?  How many lawsuits will be filed?  How many hundred-thousand-dollar settlements will be made between bed bug victims and business owners?

I suppose that Stephen Kells might have provided the answer way back in 2006.  I suppose it might just depend on how long it takes for our governments– federal, state, city, town, and village– to consider bed bugs pests of public health importance and to treat bed bug infestations accordingly.

Renee Corea at New York vs. Bed Bugs posted this wonderfully candid interview with renowned bed bug expert David Cain of Bed Bugs Limited (UK) today.  I encourage everyone to listen to it, because it sheds a little light on a lot of issues, including some pretty tricky issues we’re dealing with here in the United States.

What resonates most with me is David’s conception of successful bed bug control: that it is a culture and it is a mentality.  Think on that one for a second, folks, will you?  Successful bed bug control is a culture and a mentality.  Not quite the same thing as roach control, is it?  I think it’s wise that we– all of us– keep this in mind when we’re dealing with bed bug infestations.

Other interesting information I gleaned from the interview:

• Early detection and confirmation of bed bug infestations is absolutely essential.
• Getting professionals to work to higher standards is absolutely essential.
• Successful bed bug control is about working smarter, not using more insecticides.
• Bed Bugs Limited (UK) is usually able to completely eradicate a bed bug infestation in one treatment, and charges roughly 200.00 GBP (or about $300.00) to do so.

I’m left with more questions than answers, I suppose.  My first question?  Why the heck does it cost so little to obtain such high quality professional bed bug treatment in the United Kingdom?

How can David Cain and company get it done and get it done right so quickly and with so little cost?

I’d love to hear the answers to these questions, because the answers to these questions are also the solutions to some of the trickier issues we’re dealing with here in the United States right now.  Perhaps it has something to do with the “culture and mentality” of successful bed bug control?

Thanks to Renee and David for engaging in such an honest and candid conversation, and for making it available to the public.  And everyone, be sure to check out BBAlert, the brand-new, cost-effective method of bed bug detection David mentions.  I can’t wait until it hits the market!