Over the past week, stories about bedbugs seem to have featured in virtually every national paper and radio station. This included a piece on the BBC”s Radio 4 Today programme on Tuesday 31 August – frequently regarded as one of the most listened to and influential radio programmes in the UK.
In the BBC Today Programme , in a slot lasting just over six minutes, the BBC presenter, Matt Wells, initially reviewed the ever-mounting problems in New York. This was followed by a three minute interview with UK bedbug expert – Clive Boase of the Pest Management Consultancy.
Clive explained that over the last 10 to 12 years bedbugs have become a challenging and ever growing problem. He explained how these pests have become resistant to some insecticides and that control can take anything from two to four treatments by professionals.
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His key take-home message for the great British public was that: “Awareness and early detection are key.” To hear the interview in full click here. On their website, the BBC also posted a review of the UK bedbug situation – including the use of sniffer dogs in hotels. Click here to read. Coverage in some of the other national paperes was, however, not so acurate. Take for example The Express who featured a picture of a house dust mite and called it a bedbug. View here. Over in the USA, bedbugs have also been hitting the headlines. |
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An article released by Associated Press succinctly reviews the current position. Alarmingly it records some of the consequences resulting from the actions of some of those totally frustrated at achieving control. This includes house fires caused by people using highly flammable garden chemicals as well as a professional pest controller who treated an apartment block with an agricultural pesticide. This resulted in the hospitalisation of seven tenants. To read the article in full click here. Another article worth a read appeared in today’sNew York Times . This charts both the history of the re-appearance of bedbugs as well as a useful documentation of our attempted control of this blood-sucking pest. Click here to read in full. Meanwhile, leading USA pest control servicing company – Terminix – has compiled a report which show that 15 cities stand above the rest as the most bedbug-infested cities in the United States. The list is topped by New York and includes other major cities such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago. Surprisingly, Ohio receives the dubious distinction as the most bedbug-infested state, with three cities in the top 10 and four in the top 15. In descending order, the cities are New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, Denver, Columbus (Ohio), Dayton (Ohio), Washington DC, Los Angeles, Boston, Indianapolis, Louisville, Cleveland and Minneapolis. Most of this coverage proabably stems from the release put out by NPMA in their recently released survey of worldwide bedbug infestations. Click here to read. |
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