Bed bugs have been rearing their ugly heads at alarming rates throughout the entire New York City school system this year.  In fact, if the numbers continue to come in as they are currently are, New York City schools are on track for triple the number of bed bug cases in the city this school year!

New statistics from the New York City Department of Education show that there have been 1,700 confirmed cases of bed bugs within the NYC school system this school year.  Contrary to what some people believe, NYC bed bugs do not seem to slow down when the cold weather arrives.  Despite the frigid temperatures in the city, the tiny apple seed sized bloodsuckers have continued to thrive especially in the months of November 2010, December 2010, and January 2011.  That translates to 80% of the 1,700 cases being reported in the last three months!

When a “suspected” bed bug is found within any school in NYC, it is the policy of the New York City Department of Education to have the teacher or school administrator capture the specimen, place it in a plastic baggie (dead only), complete a Specimen Data Submission Form, and mail it all to the Department of Education.  Schools must then wait for confirmation that the specimen was actually a bed bug before any bed bug treatment can begin.  The confirmation process usually takes about two weeks, but the Department of Education acknowledges that in some cases, it sometimes does take longer for schools to receive confirmation.  Once a school receives a positive confirmation, then a NYC exterminator is called to the school.

Confirming the exact identity of a specimen is important so that the proper pesticide treatment application is applied for certain.  There are however quicker means of information transmission that would benefit the school’s population and speed up the extermination process.  Perhaps the NYC Department of Education should instead consider electronic transmission of digital photographs of the bed bugs as an alternative to how they are currently conducting their confirmation process.

Please check back on Friday for the conclusion.