by Renee Corea on May 28, 2008
in News
Mediabistro’s TVNewser reports that a Fox News employee, Jane Clark, is suing the Fox News building management and maintenance companies and has filed a workers compensation claim against News Corp.
Clark claims emotional distress caused by a prolonged bed bug infestation:
According to her lawyers, Jane Clark, “can no longer go to work after suffering emotional distress due to a continuous and ongoing bedbug problem at work.”
The case of bed bugs at Fox had been a long-running rumor until it was confirmed by The New York Times in March. At that time the infestation was reported to have been eradicated:
After making large bags available for employees to stash their belongings, and replacing a number of fabric-covered desk chairs, Mr. Vandeveer said that the treatments had ended about a week ago, and that the problem had been contained. “It’s totally eradicated,” he said.
Experienced bed bug news observers would have raised an eyebrow at totally eradicated, no? When the Times story appeared, Bedbugger reviewed the history of the rumors and the implications of the firing of an employee thought to have “brought them in” and noted the dubiously speedy resolution claim:
The NYTimes claims Vanderveer told them that the problem was discovered “a few weeks ago,” the exterminator’s treatment ended “about a week ago,” and the bed bugs are now “totally eradicated.” If that timeline of detection and treatment is accurate, many experts might say it is too soon to say for sure that the problem is “totally eradicated.”
Jane Clark apparently moved to a different office in the same building only to have the infestation continue in the new location:
Clark’s lawyer, Alan Schnurman, says his client “was attacked” by the swarming insects just last month, on April 30. Apparently, after Clark’s department was moved to a different floor, the bedbugs moved with her. A News Corp. insider tell us there’s no proof of that, however. Clark claims she was was also bitten last October and again in November.
None of this is remarkable to those of us who know a little about bed bugs. Prolonged infestations, accidental transmission to a new location, severe emotional distress… Yes, in an office in our city. Is there a kind of threshold that has been crossed?
Whatever the merits of her lawsuit, we hope Jane Clark is receiving good care. And no longer has bed bugs.
UPDATED TO ADD: Gawker has posted the attorney’s press release, where Ms. Clark’s name is given as Joan Clark and the bite events are puzzlingly described as occurring three times:
Joan Clark has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome and finds that she is unable to return to work and maintain her normal daily routine. As a mother with a young child, she is trying to cope and carry on as usual. She is under the care of doctors who are treating her emotional problems due to being thrice bitten by bedbugs.
FINAL UPDATE: Now the story is getting icky, and not because of the bed bugs. And even more puzzling.
I suppose patience is a skill that is not given to everyone to master.
We’ve been waiting for Cincinnati to show us the dimensions of what is possible for cities that are unafraid to lead and rise to the complex challenges of controlling the spread of bed bugs.
I am pleased to tell you that the minutes of the Cincinnati Board of Health meeting of March 25, 2008, now available online, are just what the doctor ordered if you are as impatient as I am and in need of some hopeful bed bug news. More like a tease, but we take what we can get.
Please consider the following (word document, read google cache here):
UPDATE ON BEDBUGS IN CINCINNATI
(Attachment No. 3)
Dr. Camille Jones, Assistant Health Commissioner, Community Health Services, came to the podium to offer information on the Joint Bedbug Task Force. She said the Task Force has developed a draft of a Strategic Plan, which needs further refinement, but they have identified eight key points: cost and resource needs; hotline/data base; education; inspection issues; training; legal and enforcement issues; research; and evaluation.
Dr. Jones said the draft includes background information which describes what has been done so far, and what needs to be done at present and into the future. The CHD is working very closely with Hamilton County Public Health and Ohio State University Extension Service. A meeting was held on March 14th with State Representative Dale Mallory and City Council members, and other representatives from the city, county and state. They are seeking additional funds and resources, and working toward coordinated approaches to addressing the problem.
Dr. Maseru commended Dr. Jones and her team for their efforts, and said it was an extraordinary piece of work. He further said the Strategic Plan could be a template for providing a platform to petition for additional funds. Dr. Jones thanked Dr. Maseru for the recognition, and thanked everyone involved in the Strategic Plan efforts.
A Joint Bedbug Task Force.
A Strategic Plan. (Strategic Plan!)
Let’s highlight the eight key points:
cost and resource needs;
hotline/data base;
education;
inspection issues;
training;
legal and enforcement issues;
research;
and evaluation
Tell me you are not as impatient as I am to read this Strategic Plan!
If you want a sense of the scope of Cincinnati’s action and the ambition of their plans, then you have to read Dr. Jones’ February report to the Cincinnati City Council (link is PDF). You can also read about Ohio’s latest legislative move on bedbugger.
And if by chance it occurs to you that the city of New York should get in on this bed bug action idea, well, you know what we think you should do.
by Renee Corea on May 22, 2008
in News
Tonight it was King Comfort Mattress of Woodside, Queens who got their turn before the cameras, spray disinfectant bottles in both fists.
John Deutzman reported for Fox 5 on the Queens used mattress refurbisher.
Do I really have to tell you what happened here?
Interestingly, when tempers were restored, Deutzman got a tour of the facility and an explanation of their process. Cue the disinfectant bottles.
The report was especially good on the absurdity of a system where there is a used bedding law in our state but no sanitizing rules, the missing mattress sanitizing regulations we’ve discussed before.
Renowned microbiologist Dr. Philip Tierno told Deutzman that “we’re seeing big problems with bed bugs.”
On Deutzman’s accompanying blog post, he writes about Dr. Tierno’s recommendation for those “in a financial bind” to sleep on an inflatable mattress instead. We’ve heard this suggestion from a member of our group too. An inflatable mattress is indeed competitively priced with a filthy, bed bug infested “refurbished” mattress.
Of course filthy, bed bug infested mattresses are considered a right of the poor in this city.
Thanks to Paula for mentioning the story in the comments.
G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina) has introduced H.R. 6068, the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008.
Bill co-sponsors are: Don Young (R-Alaska), Donald M. Payne (D-New Jersey), Doris O. Matsui (D-California), and William Jefferson (D-Louisiana).
The bill would establish state grants for hotel bed bug inspections. Yes, hotels. Hotels are but one vector of the spread of bed bugs in our country. Nonetheless, the bill privileges this sector:
SEC. 3. BED BUG INSPECTION GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Administration; Amount- The Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, may provide grants to an eligible State to assist such State in carrying out the inspections described in subsection (c). The grants shall be in amounts determined by the Secretary, taking into consideration the relative needs of the State.
(b) Eligibility- A State is eligible for a grant under this Act if the State has established a program whereby not fewer than 20 percent of rooms in lodging facilities in such State are inspected annually for cimex lectularius, commonly know as the bed bug. The Federal share of funding for such a program shall not exceed 80 percent.
(c) Use of Grants- A State may use a grant received under this Act to–
(1) conduct inspections of lodging facilities for cimex lectularius, including transportation, lodging, and meal expenses for inspectors;
(2) train inspection personnel; and
(3) educate the proprietors and staff of lodging establishments about methods to prevent and eradicate cimex lectularius.
(d) Application- To receive a grant under this Act, an eligible State shall submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce in such form and containing such information as the Secretary shall determine.
(e) Definition of Lodging Facility- For purposes of this Act and the requirement under subsection (b) for State programs receiving funding under this Act, the term `lodging facility’ means any individual hotel, motel, or inn that makes available for commercial lodging more than 10 individual rooms.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 to the Secretary of Commerce for the grants authorized under this Act.
The bill’s findings are notable to this New Yorker for the outdated New York City bed bug statistics:
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) on February 12, 2008, a thorough inspection of a hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire, found that 16 of 117 rooms were infested with bedbugs;
(2) cimex lectularius, commonly known as bed bugs, travel through the ventilation systems in multi-unit establishments causing exponential infestations;
(3) female bedbugs can lay up to 5 eggs in a day and 500 during a lifetime;
(4) bedbug populations in the United States have increased by 500 percent in the past few years;
(5) in 2004, New York City had 377 bedbug violations and from July to November of 2005, a 5-month span, there were 449 violations reported in the city, an alarming increase in infestations over a short period of time;
(6) in a study of 700 hotel rooms between 2002 and 2006, 25 percent of hotels were found to be in need of bedbug treatment; and
(7) bed bugs possess all of the necessary prerequisites for being capable of passing diseases from one host to another.
What do you think of this bill? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts…
UPDATE – May 20, 2008:
So, the story is being picked up. Predictably, there is cautious skepticism, outright snark, and the inevitable “it’s not a joke” statement from the sponsor.
We all need to educate people on the bed bug issues. This unfortunately named bill is not a joke and deserves serious debate.
by Renee Corea on May 17, 2008
in Events
Council Member Gale Brewer (6th District – Upper West Side) is holding an open house at the district office on Sunday and Monday.
Here are the details:
6TH COUNCIL DISTRICT SPRING OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, May 18, 4:00-7:00 PM
Monday, May 19, 5:00-8:00 PM
563 Columbus Ave. (at 87th St.)
I’m going to attend and I hope you will too. It’s remarkable that Council Member Brewer has been thinking seriously about bed bugs and what the city should do about them since 2005. That’s when she first introduced “The Bed Bug Bill” which sought to ban the sale of reconditioned mattresses in our city and form a task force to study the health impact of bed bugs.
We support her continued efforts to find ways to control the spread of bed bugs in our city. And we need you to support these efforts as well. Unless you and I and lots of people like us raise our voices in support and speak to our own council members and other representatives to educate them about our problems and the many practical things that can be done to achieve control of bed bugs in our city, we will continue to be where we are. Let’s certainly not wait until more people get bed bugs.
So, let’s go meet Council Member Brewer and her hard-working staff, to thank them and let them know we are committed to working with them to find solutions.
by Renee Corea on May 15, 2008
in News
Rebecca Spitz reports for NY1 on Housing Court Judge Sheldon Halprin’s hands-on approach:
Housing court Judge Sheldon Halprin took a tour of a three-building complex on West 145 Street in Manhattan Wednesday.
“We have no shower, wooden floors where we get maggots and bedbugs. We had to throw out all our furniture,” said tenant Eileen Caraballo.
Throwing out all your furniture when fighting a bed bug infestation is a desperate measure that is familiar to us. As much as we are told how it is unnecessary to do so as long as proper pest control measures are taken, we understand how it sadly comes to that for so many people.
A tenant organizer says rather than making repairs, the landlord has been busy renting open apartments to the city’s Department of Homeless Services. In fact, of the 60 apartments in the complex, about two-thirds are now occupied by formerly homeless families.
Longtime tenants say they believe the landlord is using that and the lack of repairs to try to force them to leave. As a result, more than a dozen tenants joined forces — and sued. They say nothing happened until Judge Halprin announced he planned to visit.
Judge Halprin did a very cool thing. We hope these tenants will soon get relief.
So, I guess our earlier DDT post was too lighthearted. Please bear with us; we’re learning. This is actually a very serious subject. I hate to see people in our bed bug community wasting their precious resources of energy and time on the idea that DDT could once again be a solution for bed bugs.
I understand why people yearn for it, and media reports are partly to blame, but entertaining the idea of ‘bringing back DDT’ is so disheartening, such a powerful distraction from the good work that can be done and that we should all consider.
So, for those who doubt that bed bugs are really resistant to DDT, here are some sources for your review.
Links below are PDF articles retrieved from the Armed Forces Pest Management Board’s excellent Literature Retrieval System (an amazing resource).
“Almost Everywhere”
Bed Bugs [to download PDF enter accession:112924], World Health Organization, Vector Biology and Control Division, 1982:
Table: Insecticide Resistance in Bed Bugs in Countries or Areas (WHO, 1980)
C. lectularius is the particular bad guy we’re tracking in the table above, the common bed bug.
Insecticide Resistance of Medically Important Arthropods [to download PDF enter accession:23590], Report of the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency Medical Entomology Division, January 1962:
Table: Insecticide Resistance of Medically Important Arthropods
Note, in the earlier post I cited slightly different years for the first reports of observed resistance, 1947 for the Hawaii report and 1951 for Israel. The 1947 date is cited in various secondary sources and the 1951 date is from a WHO bulletin: A survey of bed-bug resistance to insecticides in Israel, Norman G. Gratz, 1959, 20, 835-840.
Contemporary Sources
In a March 2008 Bedbugger interview, Texas A & M research scientist James W. Austin noted the continued resistance to DDT (emphasis added):
While screening multiple populations of bed bugs against various insecticides we have found virtually all populations were 100% resistant to DDT. This is not a surprise given that the first observances of DDT resistance were noted almost 50 years ago. It is a little surprising that they continue to be so completely resistant to DDT.
In 2007, Alvaro Romero, Michael F. Potter, and Kenneth F. Haynes, published their findings of insecticide resistance: Insecticide Resistance in the Bed Bug: A Factor in the Pest’s Sudden Resurgence? (Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 44, Number 2, March 2007 , pp. 175-178). The July 2007 article in Pest Control Technology contains an additional table (on page 50) which outlines DDT susceptibility of 5 bed bug populations:
Three of the four pyrethroid-resistant populations we tested exhibited minimal mortality after five continuous days of exposure — suggesting that bed bug resistance to DDT may be common today, as was becoming the case a half-century ago when the pest was vanishing from this country.
It’s really not that difficult to find references to the history of DDT resistance in bed bugs. Here’s one, from a July 2001 New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell, The Mosquito Killer, where Dr. McWilson Warren (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) remembers the challenges of malaria eradication work in Malaysia in the 50s and 60s:
“Then the Malaysians started to complain about bedbugs, and it turns out what normally happens is that ants like to eat bedbug larvae,” McWilson Warren said. “But the ants were being killed by the DDT and the bedbugs weren’t—they were pretty resistant to it. So now you had a bedbug problem.”
A bed bug problem is exactly what we have right now.
But DDT is a complete waste of mental space.
We had a great conversation with UK bed bug specialist David Cain last week and the transcript is finally available.
Here are some of the highlights (for the full transcript see above link).
On the practical difficulties of inspecting adjoining properties when only one tenant is the client:
In the initial phase we have no choice but to treat individual apartments as one-off infestations. So, we assume that the occupants of the flat have come into contact with them external to the property, maybe in a hotel or while they’ve been travelling, and that it’s only their unit that’s infected, but as part of our procedures we make sure that they are aware that by using us they need to communicate the problem with their neighbors if it’s persistent, or, if when we inspect the property, they haven’t been on holiday for a couple of years, they haven’t come into likely sources where they may have been exposed to bed bugs [...] we will ask them to start communicating with their adjoining neighbors, to educate them about the problem of bed bugs, to explain to them that you don’t have to wait until you are being bitten to have bed bugs, they can be in there, and you may be in the majority of people that don’t respond to the bites. We also make it a principle that if we need to come back for a third visit, that we gain access to all adjoining properties to do an inspection, to make sure that they aren’t in fact the source.
On the core skills of a specialist bed bug pest controller/PCO:
The best skills that I can recommend are people who are inquisitive, people who want to actually investigate the problem, who want to get to the bottom of what’s going on, and understand things before they start producing chemicals, before they start trying to treat the property, because it’s only by having those attention to detail skills, to look and observe the situation of the environment that they’re working in, do they understand the implications and ramifications of the treatment they’ve put in place. So, attention to detail is first and foremost; very good eyesight is also highly important, because I don’t want any of my people missing things like fecal trace signs, which, let’s face it, we’re often looking for something which is only a millimeter in diameter in a very, very large room [...] a willingness to actually listen to what customers have to say, to understand how they could have potentially come into contact with bed bugs in the first instance, and then finally the last thing I look at on my list is experience in pest control, because you can teach anyone to follow our methods with time, by taking them out in the field and saying, hey, look at this particular room, this is where we predict bed bugs will be present, but this is the methodology that you must follow each time to actually investigate the process, because the chemical treatment aspect of it, to be honest, is probably only 10% of what I think a successful treatment program entails.
On what it will take to achieve control of bed bugs in our cities:
People have to understand what bed bugs are. They have to understand that they have nothing to do with the cleanliness of your home. That they’re an exposure pest. They have to understand what to look for. What signs they may see on furniture in the street. What signs to check for in second-hand furniture. What to look for when they’re checking into a hotel. Because the only thing that we can do to stop the spread of this is to stop the number of people getting infected with bed bugs. And once we get to a stage where people know what to look for, are looking for the signs, are checking their homes on a regular basis, we will start to bring the number of exposure events that are occurring down and under control. And that’s gonna take the media, having articles, factual programs on the television about it, it’s got to come out from public health departments. It needs to be a major drive because unfortunately just on the evidence I’ve seen alone over the last three years, we’re not even scratching the surface here, we’re not dealing with the new infestations that are occurring, and we’re not getting to the bottom of the active and long-term infestations [...] So for me, if you want to stop the spread of bed bugs within any community, the entire planet, education I personally believe is the only answer.
On the anxiety of former bed bug sufferers about the risk of exposure in public places:
It’s about possibility of infestation and probability of infestation. Now, as people will know from where they’ve picked up bed bugs, whether it’s hotel rooms, whether it’s friends’ houses, pieces of furniture, the many myriad of ways that you can get bed bugs, are all possible. In the grand scheme of things, you also have to look at the probability. Now, because they’re an exposure pest [...] if you don’t come into contact with them, then you won’t get bed bugs. So, if you take a flashlight with you to the cinema, and you spend 3 or 4 minutes checking your seat, before you sit down, and the seats around you, then the bottom line is, if you’ve done a good inspection, you are at low probability of picking them up by that route, but it’s still possible to do so. So, this is why I say, check everywhere and reduce that probability of being infected, and focus less on the possibility of being infected. If you look at everything that is a possible transmission route, you’d never leave your house ever again, because you’d be constantly fearful about any seat that you go to sit in, any area or public space which is used by other people, so it’s a matter of trying to keep it in check, and looking at it realistically, and saying, well, if I go out there prepared and ready to look for problems, then I’m not going to stumble into one that becomes a problem I take home.
On leather trousers and shooting sticks:
David Cain: I also am a bit well known for wearing black, leather trousers. Which is partly because they’re very protective clothing [...] and the second aspect is that [...] bed bugs don’t particularly like leather, because it’s a difficult material for them to climb up and therefore a good stamp of my feet before leaving the property [...]
NYvsBB: We’ll have to add leather trousers to our holiday shopping list this year…
David Cain: Well, I think they are coming back in fashion. My second bed bug fashion tip of the year has to be shooting sticks. You know these seats which fold out of a walking stick? [...]
I predict we’re going to be seeing an awful lot more of those over the coming years as well. It’s easier to take your seat with you than to constantly be inspecting it in public.
NYvsBB: [laughter] Shooting sticks?
A shooting stick. Photo: Avalon Guns.
by mangycur on May 10, 2008
in Events
The educator from HPD, who led the seminar, gave a very good presentation. He presented clear illustrations. He was warm and gracious. He kept the audience engaged and alert by asking questions and inviting us to answer. It was especially impressive how he graciously handled audience members questioning some of the items he presented, and in a few instances, correcting him. He allowed space for, and acknowledged, every comment with friendly ease and kept the seminar moving along.
Further, the educator briefly shared his personal story of his struggle with bed bugs, and held space for audience members to speak to their own experiences.
These seminars are intended to be an introduction to bed bugs. Many of the audience members had already experienced bed bugs themselves, and hence already knew much of the information presented. However, everyone seemed to get a little more information from the seminar than they had before.
Nevertheless, it appears, based on this seminar, that New Yorkers may be ready for more in-depth information. Information about landlord/tenant rights, resources, and treatment protocols would be particularly useful at this juncture.
Some interesting highlights above and beyond the basics:
- Reconditioned Furniture: The educator cited reconditioned furniture as partially responsible for the resurgence of bed bugs. He explained that reconditioning is simply a dry cleaning process, which means some bugs might escape the treatment process and survive to infest the next owner of the furniture. He said that inspectors do certify that such furniture has undergone the reconditioning process and label it accordingly for the protection of consumers. If we encounter a reconditioned item as being represented as new, we were urged to report the company.
- HPD Understaffing and Priorities: HPD is very understaffed and must respond to urgent safety complaints first before having time for less urgent complaints. For example, a tenant who has no heat or hot water is a higher priority than a tenant whose landlord is slow to respond to their infestation of bed bugs, as bed bugs (except in rare, extreme circumstances) do not actually cause any danger.
- Bed Bugs in the Subways: The press picked up on the educator’s statement that bed bugs have been spotted in subway benches. It appears that this information is anecdotal.
We particularly appreciate the educator’s emphasis that bed bugs don’t necessarily nest on beds. They are very likely to nest in the walls, in cracks in the floors, or in picture frames, etc. Hence, disposing of mattresses is not necessarily going to eradicate an infestation.
Some of the information that was presented on behalf of the HPD appears to not be wholly accurate. Of particular concern was the emphasis on the supposed safety and usefulness of diatomaceous earth. Other items under question are the attraction of bed bugs to lactic acid and the precise number of recorded complaints to 311 in 2007.
In summary:
The presentation was useful as an introduction to bed bugs, and the most important points were valuable and accurate, but many items presented were inaccurate or questionable. This underscores the importance of our need for coordinated efforts. The HPD, a city agency, needs to include the counsel of entomologists and experienced pest control operators in its material to present more meaningful content and factual accuracy.
Additionally, many of the audience members already knew much of the material presented on bed bugs themselves, but needed more information on the responsibilities and rights of both landlords and tenants, alike; as well as more information on resources and treatment protocols. The public is ready for a new level of information.
If you haven’t already, please call and/or write letters to your elected representatives to support our campaign for a bed bug task force, or please visit our CitizenSpeak page. You can enter your name and address and a pre-written letter will be sent to the appropriate officials.
As always, we welcome questions and feedback. You can reach us at founders {at} newyorkvsbedbugs {dot} org.
