If bed bugs are found, treatment must be completed to the unit and all of the surrounding units as well.  PHAs may offer special services to tenants such as inspecting furniture, non-chemical treatment of furniture prior to moving into a unit, the use of bed bug detection devices or mattress encasements, but tenants are not required to use the services.  All special services must be incurred at the expense of the PHA.

Public Housing Agencies cannot deny residency to tenants who have had previous bed bug experiences.  Preferential treatment may not be provided to tenants based upon their response to the question regarding exposure to bed bugs.  Any person who lives in a HUD owned Public Housing Unit cannot be charged for bed bug eradication services.  All costs for bed bug eradication must be covered by the PHA.

Recognizing that tenants have some responsibility in controlling bed bugs, tenants must also take an active role in avoiding and eliminating the pests.

In the regulation, “tenants are strongly encouraged to immediately report the suspicion of possible bed bugs in a housing unit or other areas of the property.”  This should be a REQUIREMENT, not an encouragement!  Bed bugs spread very quickly.  It is imperative that pest control professionals be called at the first sign of a bed bug infestation.

Tenants will not be reimbursed for bed bug infested items so it is important for them to cooperate and aid in the eradication process.  When bed bugs are concerned, tenants, PHAs and pest control professionals must all work together for full eradication.

Public Housing Agencies and Pest Control Professionals are encouraged to keep abreast of the new HUD guidelines by reading Notice: PIH-2012-17 provided by HUD.

It has been recommended that Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans be implemented to help control bed bugs as well as other types of household pests and HUD is strongly encouraging Pubic Housing Agencies (PHAs) to incorporate a good IPM plan.  According to HUD, the procedures include:

“Raising awareness through education on the prevention of bed bugs.

Inspecting infested area, plus surrounding living spaces.

Checking for bed bugs in luggage and clothes when returning home from a trip.

Looking for bed bugs or signs of an infestation on secondhand items before bringing the items home.

Correctly identifying the pest. Keeping records indicating dates and locations where pests are found.

Cleaning all items within a bed bug infested living area.

Reducing clutter where bed bugs can hide.

Eliminating bed bug habitats.

Physically removing bed bugs through cleaning.

Using pesticides carefully according to the label directions.

Following up on inspections and possible treatments.”

In the new guidelines, PHA must respond to complaints of bed bugs within 24 hours and discuss what measures will be taken to get rid of the pests with tenants.  Inspection of the unit in question, as well as the units above, below, and on the sides must also be performed within three business days.  If bed bugs are not found, re-inspection must be completed periodically over the next several months.

Please check back on Friday for the conclusion.

Cockroaches in New York City are one of the many types of pests that can easily slip inside of a business and multiply very quickly.  Because cockroaches are typically nocturnal pests, at least in the early stages, they often go unnoticed by employees, managers and business owners.

Cockroaches can be transported into a business via shipping boxes, a neighboring business, or even via a customer.  Resourceful cockroaches will seek harborage in cardboard boxes, behind or in cabinets, in walls, in or around garbage, and behind appliances.  These pests need food and water and typically reside within a 15 foot radius of those sources.

Not only will cockroaches prove to be a horrifying site to customers, they also pose a health risk as they are known to carry many disease causing pathogens.  Because cockroaches will eat just about anything, and travel through garbage and other vile areas, they collect pathogens on their legs which in turns contaminate all surfaces that they travel upon.

Keeping your business pest proofed by hiring a NYC commercial pest control expert is the key to keeping disease ridden cockroaches under control.  Stern Environmental Group has extensive experience in cockroach eradication.  Listen to our “cockroach stories” and you’ll hear how our technicians are able to identify the source of the cockroach infestation and use our extensive knowledge to rid businesses of even the most invested areas a short period of time.

Thousands of Americans are transported to hospitals from coast to coast each year with serious allergic reactions to pests that sting.  Of those, at least 40 will die from anaphylaxis.

According to the Observer on April 24, 2012, Dr. Joseph Petrusek of La Grande, stated that encountering any of the 11 symptoms of a systemic reaction after a bee, hornet or wasp sting will put you at risk for a life threatening reaction.  The risks include:

“• hives.

• a metallic taste or tingling in the mouth

• swelling of the tongue, lips or throat

• difficulty breathing or swallowing

• abdominal cramps

• vomiting or diarrhea

• a rash or itchy skin

• coughing or wheezing

• loss of consciousness

• increased heart rate

• dizziness or sudden weakness”

According to reports, anyone who has had any of these reactions to a stinging pest is susceptible to experiencing some sort of life threatening reaction if they are stung by another bee, wasp, or hornet.  Upon testing by a physician, patients who are allergic to the venom will be prescribed a self-injectable epinephrine pen which will lessen the chance of the allergic reaction being life threatening.

Having bees, hornets or wasps eliminated by a NJ pest control expert will help keep you and your family safe.

Recognizing that bed bugs are still a major problem throughout the United States, the PPMA has designed the last week of the National Pest Management month to be “Bed Bug Awareness Week”.  In such, they would like to remind consumers to be vigilant in their quest to avoid bed bug exposure this summer travel season.  The PPMA recognizes that having knowledge about bed bugs, their habits, and their harborage will help consumers avoid bringing the blood thirsty pests home with them this summer.

Stern Environmental Group is a leading authority on bed bugs.  We have extensive experience with bed bug eradication and offer a multitude of bed bug products to help consumers remain bed bug free.

Stern would like to offer some reminders for safe and bed bug free traveling this summertime:

• Check for bed bugs in any hotel or motel upon your arrival. Carefully examine the entire bed, headboard, furniture and room.  Remember, even 5 star hotels can have bed bugs at any moment in time!

• Check for bed bugs when visiting a relative’s home.  Having bed bugs is not a sign of uncleanliness.  Anyone can pick up bed bugs from any location.

• Use the luggage rack in a hotel/motel.  Never place your luggage on the bed or carpeted floor areas.  The slick surface of the bathroom is also a good area to store luggage.

Please check back on Friday for the conclusion.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently underwent a massive bed bug infestation problem in many of their student dorm facilities.  It has been reported that they spent over $300,000 ridding the campus of the bloodsucking pests by utilizing several bed bug sniffing dogs and heat treatment.  Not wanting to have bed bugs plague the facilities again, the University bought eight PackTite units that will be used to treat luggage, backpacks, and other small items that are brought in by students who have gone home for weekends and holidays as well as incoming students.

The PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heat Chamber is an invaluable tool in helping curtail bed bug infestations.  Hotels will benefit from having a unit on site.  If a guest happens to find bed bugs in their room, the hotel can kill any bed bugs that have hitched a ride in their luggage or personal belongings in a matter of hours, causing minimal disruption to the guest.  The PackTite Closet is a perfect solution for hotels as its larger size allows for more air and heat circulation.  Any bed bugs or their eggs will not stand a chance in this unit when the temperature reaches 120 to 140 degrees.  It has been proven to kill all bed bugs, in all life stages, in just two hours!

You can find both the large and small size PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heat Chamber at Stern Environmental Group.

Squirrels are well-known for their ability to gain access to attic areas of homes.  Because of their small size, ability to climb with ease, and graceful agility, squirrels are a difficult pest to keep outdoors.  Despite their fear of humans and pets, squirrels are perfectly happy living in the attic of your home!  Attics provide the perfect shelter area for squirrels and plenty of space for a female squirrel that is looking for a place to raise a young family.

Squirrels often gain access to the attic via the roof.  Depending on the type of roof you have, squirrels may chew or claw their way into the attic area.  Squirrels are excellent jumpers.  You can help prevent squirrels from gaining access to the roof by keeping tree branches trimmed back at least eight feet from the roof.  Squirrels also gain access to the attic via the attic venting units.  To keep squirrels out, it is important to cover any attic holes with heavy gage wire screen.  Be sure to attach the screening on all corners as well as in the middle section so that squirrels cannot shimmy their way in between.

Squirrels that have made an attic their home will cause serious and costly damage to New Jersey homeowners report NJ pest control experts.  Squirrel feces and urine carry bacteria that are dangerous to humans, so it must be carefully removed from the premises.  Squirrel fecal matter is an open invitation to other squirrels to enter the attic as well.  Like other rodents, squirrels constantly gnaw on a variety of substances to ground down their oversized teeth.  This constant gnawing has resulted in electrical wires being chewed and exposed, and at times, serious fires have erupted.

A New Jersey pest control professional can help get rid of all types of unwanted rodents and wildlife that have invaded your home.  Call Stern Environmental Group for expert services.

• If a unit is suspected to have bed bugs, but no bugs are found, O/As should continue to re-inspect the unit/s for several months.

• When bed bugs are found in a unit, that unit, as well as the units surrounding it, must receive treatment for the pests.  Treatment can be in the form of heat, freezing, using mattress encasements, vacuuming, steaming, and interception devices.

• O/As may ask for financial help from HUD to treat bed bug infestations in a dwelling.  O/A’s should submit a request via the “Reserve for Replacement” or “Residual Receipts” accounts at HUD.

• O/A’s can help keep the incidents of bed bug infestations low by offering tenants bed bug mattress covers, monitoring devices, or other detection tools.  The O/As may not charge a tenant for the use of any of these products.

• To protect the building, O/As may voluntarily offer to inspect a tenant’s furniture before they move in and inspections of luggage when a tenant returns from a trip out-of- town, and inspection of any used furniture before it is brought into a building. The O/As may not charge a tenant nor can they require a tenant to be subjected to any of these services.

• Tenants that have had a bed bug problem at a previous residence cannot be denied residency based upon that history.

• The cost of bed bug eradication cannot be passed along to the tenant.  The O/As must incur the costs associated with the bed bug infestation or ask for financial assistance from the “Reserve for Replacement” or “Residual Receipts” accounts at HUD if necessary.

• Tenants should immediately report any bed bug sightings to the O/As so that treatment can commence before the infestation spreads throughout the building.

• Tenants should expect the O/As to perform treatment within 5 days of calling to report the bloodsuckers.  If not possible, tenants should be kept aware of when the pest control professional will provide treatment.

• Tenants must cooperate with all bed bug treatment efforts and OA’s can offer assistance free of charge if needed.

Despite the fact that bed bugs are not known to spread disease, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider bed bugs to be a “pest of significant public health importance.”

Three new notices that must now be followed have been released by HUD.  Here are some of the interesting highlights from Notice H 2011-20.

• Owners and Management Agents (O/As) are encouraged to develop and follow an Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM).  The goal is to prevent bed bug infestations as well as have a program in place when there is a bed bug infestation occurrence.

• O/As should consider a tenants complaint of bed bugs to be an urgent matter.  Tenants should be contacted within 24 hours by the O/As and an inspection of the property should occur within a reasonable time period.

• O/As should inspect a dwelling to determine if bed bugs are present using a variety of detection tools such as bed bug sniffing dogs and visual inspections.

• The O/As should have the affected unit inspected within three calendar days by a licensed pest control operator, or keep documentation as to why those services could not be completed within the recommended time frame.

• At the minimum, any unit above, below, and on both sides of the suspected bed bug infested unit must also be inspected for bed bugs.

Please check back on Wednesday for the conclusion.

When bed bugs are present every piece of bedding must be washed in hot water and then dried on the hottest temperature setting.  All bedding must then be placed into super-sized Ziploc storage bags or sealed in plastic trash bags.  Bed bugs can be lurking anywhere, so each piece of clothing and linen item must be laundered, or at the minimum, run through the dryer on high heat for at least 20 minutes to kill any bed bugs and their eggs.  Each mattress much be carefully vacuumed to ensure that all bed bugs and their eggs are completely gone.  All clutter must be discarded, or vacuumed, checked for bed bugs, and bagged or placed in plastic totes to receive the optimum results.

People who find themselves with a bed bug infestation problem often become frustrated when they are told by a NJ pest control professional that they must live out of plastic bags.

Stern Environmental Group understands the stress and time that it takes to prepare for bed bug eradication.  As such we offer the Bed Bug Concierge Service. This specialized service allows for a crew to enter your home in preparation for the exterminator.  The Bed Bug Concierge team will remove all clothing, clean items with alcohol and seal in plastic, empty all drawers and wrap in plastic, shrink wrap all upholstered furniture and bedding, and vacuum carpets.  Personal items are then removed for off-site fumigation and storage until your home is bed bug free.  You may also choose to have our Mobile Bed Bug Heating Trailer bake your personal belongings so that your items are returned to you the same day.

You can trust the Bed Bug Concierge Service team at Stern Environmental Group to take the utmost care of your personal belongings at all times.  Call us today to find out more information about this incredible service.