Cincinnati’s upcoming bed bug conference!

Posted on July 29, 2008 by Renee Corea

Today’s exciting news is that the Cincinnati Department of Health is hosting a bed bug conference on August 14, a day-long conference, as part of a strategy to raise public awareness. The conference will be an opportunity to educate the public, environmental health workers and pest control professionals and will address the real issues of the bed bug resurgence: landlord/tenant issues, prevention, inspections, and treatment protocols. Dr. Susan Jones of Ohio State University and Rickell Howard, a legal aid attorney, will speak.

This is smart, so smart… it’s what San Francisco’s Department of Public Health did in 2006.

Here are some features of the bed bug problem in Cincinnati, from the press release via the Cincinnati Beacon:

The city of Cincinnati is predominately comprised of old buildings, a harborage for bedbugs. An estimated 28% of the population lives below the poverty line while 58% reside in apartments or rental units. According to the Cincinnati Health Department, these factors have played a considerable role in the resurgence of bedbugs, resulting in a projected 35% increase in reported cases in 2008, primarily from residents in Avondale, Fairmount, Mt. Auburn, Over the Rhine, Price Hill, Roselawn, Walnut Hills and Westwood. Most concerning is that the experience of other cities suggests that complaints to health departments represent only a small portion of actual bedbug infestations.

[Emphasis added.]

Cincinnati, population 332,252, received more than 757 bed bug complaints in 2007.

Are we obsessed with Cincinnati and Hamilton County and their Joint Bed Bug Task Force and its draft Strategic Plan?  Yes, yes we are.  Next question.

Sigh. What about us, you ask? When is New York City going to do something comparable? Are we going to have to roll our own?  Maybe!


These pages may be of related interest:

  1. Why so quiet, Cincinnati?
  2. Cincinnati may be unable to keep up with the demand for bed bug inspections
  3. A small preview of the Cincinnati/Hamilton County bed bug task force report
  4. Details of the projected budget needs for Cincinnati’s Bed Bug Inspection Program
  5. Good on paper, poverty and silver bullets: not everyone thinks Cincinnati is all that

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