The big news of the week in bed bug land is that New York City has officially declared war on the blood sucking parasites that are noshing away at residents, travelers, shoppers, and anyone else who happens to step foot in the wrong place at the wrong time in the city.

After months of anticipation, and endless hours of strategic planning, the new counterattack was revealed on the steps of City Hall last Wednesday.

Last year, the Bed Bug Advisory Board was formed by Mayor Bloomberg.  The Board’s purpose was to study the health concerns and make recommendations to the mayor and city council on the prevention and treatment of bed bug infestations in the city.  The Bed Bug Advisory Board was to deliver their report within nine months; and with eager anticipation, the 39 page report has finally arrived!

So here’s what New York City bed bugs have to look forward to in the near future….

• There will now be a team to coordinate bed bug control efforts in the city.

• A “Bed Bug Academy for building managers.

• An online portal of bed bug facts checked by the city.

• Guidelines/information for disposing of infested furniture and clothing, and educating the public about purchasing secondhand items.

• New York City Housing Court will give higher priority to cases that involve bed bugs.

The cost of implementing the program is said to be $500,000, which will be re-appropriated from the Department of Health’s budget.  According to the New York Times, Gil Bloom, one of the Board members, said “If fully implemented, the recommendations could reverse the current increase in bed bug activity and actually improve our situation.”  All of these bed bug programs are great, but the big question is…will they work?  Time will tell of course and everyone in the US is waiting to see the outcome of the New York bed bug problem!

If you are suffering from a bed bug infestation in New York City or New Jersey, don’t wait until these new programs are implemented before asking for help.  Call a bed bug expert for help today.

With all of the bed bug infestations blanketing newspapers and the internet this past month, it’s a pretty hot topic among folks.  I was just having a conversation with my neighbor about bed bugs and I told her that bed bugs could wreak havoc if they landed in the wrong hands and were purposely set loose in a public establishment.  She thought I was a bit off my rocker.  It’s bad enough that we all need to look for them in hotels and motels, and wonder if they are in the airline seat, rental car, train, bus, taxi, or movie theaters that we are sitting in.  We are not even safe from these blood suckers if we become ill and require a trip to the hospital or are visiting someone there, because bed bugs can be ready to pounce.

Then I read an article last night about the plastic baggie of live bed bugs there were found a few weeks ago at a Des Moines city building. The open baggie was found by custodians but not before the prickly pests had time to escape and run for cover in the Des Moines Armory which houses many public offices.  It is only now that they are finding out how bad the infestation is.

Officials believe that the bed bugs were left by someone who was seeking revenge against the city for some unknown reason.  Really, why else would a bag filled with live bed bugs be left in a building?

Forget chemical warfare, this is bed bug warfare!  The building has undergone fumigation services three times, but according to the bed bug sniffing dog and the employees itchy bites, the bed bugs refuse to die.  So far, the City of Des Moines has forked out $1,200 for fumigation costs.  Heat treatment for the building will cost the city an additional $5,000.  Without a doubt, employees have taken the blood suckers home with them as well.  Who assumes the cost for those bed bug infestations?  What a nightmare!

For protection, maybe I will just train my own dog to be a bed bug sniffing dog!

Often people living in New York City and New Jersey and other locations blame bed bugs or other insects when they get itchy. However, there are other potential causes of itchiness other than insects. Allergies, medications, cosmetics and environmental contaminants can cause reactions similar to insect bites.

People living in New Jersey and New York City and other places need to investigate other sources of itching and not just insects. However, if a woman witnesses a mosquito biting her arm and the specific area of the attack because red and itchy perhaps and extensive investigation of her cosmetics can be avoided.

The publication produced by Michael F. Potter, Professor of Entomology at the University of Kentucky, titled Invisible Itches: Insect and Non-Insect Causes is a an excellent comprehensive text on the subject of invisible itching. The text includes useful information on topics including sources of irritation, obscure biting arthropods, environmental factors, household products, health-related conditions and finding a solution.

By the way, if you want to avoid itching sensations due to the odious bed bugs, consider placing bed bug monitors in your residence.

The Boston Globe reported that a Brazilian national who operated an extermination company in Everett was arrested on charges of using chemicals banned indoors and for operating without certification. Citizens of New York City and New Jersey and elsewhere need to make sure they hire a quality pest control company for bed bug treatments.

His company used the agricultural pesticides malathion and carbaryl, which have been banned from indoor use for eradicating bed bugs in Everett and other cities. One of the tenant’s claimed that the company sprayed the harsh chemicals throughout her apartment including on her eight month old daughter’s crib.

The tenant reported she had to hire a cleaning company to clean the place and after all the spraying she still had bed bugs. She moved out of her apartment. No mention if her landlord reimbursed her for the cleaning cost.

The maximum penalty for violating the EPA regulation includes one year in jail and/or a $25,000 fine. Perhaps the fine should be higher.

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) delegation returned from Haiti. The group wants to support pest management work in Haiti. NPMA will try and raise $250,000 to support pest management initiatives for hospitals located in Port au Prince, Haiti. The money will be used for minimizing entry locations for pests, pest prevention products, training in pest control operations and a campaign to educate Haitians about basic procedures they can use to minimize the threats from pests including the diseases they carry. The focus will be on getting rid of rodents, roaches, mosquitoes and flies from specific service areas of the medical facilities.

Training will be a major part of the program. The medical facilities are providing treatment to people with pre-existing health complications and often people who are the most vulnerable to health threats from pests.

Hopefully, the Haitians won’t have to also deal with bed bugs. They have enough problems. For those living in New Jersey, New York City and other bed bug infested locations, bed bug monitors are a vital part of a comprehensive bed bug prevention plan.

It’s no secret that the bed bug complaints continue to rise around the United States and they are particularly horrendous in New York City.  Renters are taking advantage of NYC’s 311 hotline and reporting bed bug infestation problems in record numbers.

On March 19, 2010, a new Bill was brought forward to the General Assembly that is sure to make many New York City residents quite happy.  Up for consideration in the Bill are changes to the administrative code that would make property owners provide full disclosure about their bed bug infestation experiences.

If the Bill passes the General Assembly, property owners would be required to furnish each would-be tenant, who is signing a vacancy lease, a notice that depicts the previous five year history of the property’s bed bug infestation issues.  Assembly Bill 10356 also states that if the notice is not provided to the tenant, that the Division of Housing and Community Renewal will “order” the owner to furnish the notice to the tenant.

The potential passing of Assembly Bill 10356 is great news for renters indeed!

Please check back on Tuesday for the conclusion.

Some residents in Fort Worth, Texas are not so happy to hear that the Fort Worth Housing Authority is closing down the 11 story downtown apartment building that they call home.

Hunter Plaza is home to 219 elderly and disabled residents, who are being forced to leave their homes.  The building has been infested with bed bugs since the spring of 2009.  Since the first sighting of the bed bugs, the Housing Authority reports that they have done repeated bed bug treatments to try to rid the building of the disgusting pests to no avail.  These blood suckers have even been found ON some of the residents who live at this establishment.  The Housing Authority has replaced the carpet with tile flooring, used steam treatment in the entire building to try to kill the bed bugs, hired a new pest control company for fumigation services, and yet the horrible bugs remain.

Even though some people are disappointed with having to move out of their homes, it does seem like the Housing Authority has taken the bed bug infestation problem and the welfare of the residents very seriously.  Their actions should be commended.  Getting rid of bed bugs is very difficult and should not be taken lightly.

The simple fact is that not all exterminators have the same products and services available in their bed bug arsenal.  Stern Environmental Group provides amazing bed bug services to residents and businesses in Secaucus, New Jersey, the Greater New York City Metro and Connecticut Regions.  If you have a bed bug problem, give us a call today!

Some New York City schools are being invaded by bed bugs. Teachers are complaining that the bed bugs are disrupting the learning process. The Department of Education has stated that the bed bug problem has gotten worse.

The DOE will not send pest control exterminators to a school until a dead bed bug is mailed to a lab. What if the little critter gets lost in the mail? What if the bed bug was faking to be dead and comes alive at the lab? A live bed bug does not meet the criteria!

It seems the best policy is to take immediate action and have a New York City bed bug pest control expert examine the building as soon as possible and provide extermination services if necessary.

At one of the  schools it has been reported that teachers and students seal up their belongings in plastic bags three times a day as a preventive measure. However, a school can get rid of all the bed bugs and then a few weeks later some kid unknowingly brings them back to school on his jacket. Oh my.

Garbage bag with rat chew marks.

Some pest experts predict that this winter will be “rodent season” in New York City.  Since rats won’t stand still long enough to get a good head count and because they are basically everywhere; it’s hard to tell how many are actually residing in New York City. 

Their populations are estimated to be from between one and twelve rats for every single person living in the City.  Now that’s a lot of rats! 

A study just released last week shows that NYC still tops the list as the number one hang out for the beastly creatures that burrow beneath, and roam the streets of New York at night.  Lucky for Atlanta, they have now jumped into the number two spot.

Rats usually begin their never ending hunt for food at dusk and feed for about an hour and a half.  They then typically rest up for another early morning gorge session to fill their ugly bellies at about 4 am.  They are clever gatherers and if they find food that is too large to be eaten quickly, they will drag it off to a safe hiding place for consumption.  When food is scarce, they will travel a good distance, but in New York City, this is usually not a problem.  Rats to do not need to resort to the measly morsels dropped by passerby’s on the street; they can easily feast on the overwhelming amount of discarded trash left uncovered in the City.

Check out the picture of a recent trip that Douglas Stern took into New York City at night with rat Czar Bobby Corrigan of the City’s Health Department to see what the rats have been up to.  This is just one of the many bags of trash that a rat had decided to tear into and make a good dinner of.  Quite disturbing when you consider all of the diseases that can easily be spread by these creatures!

All this week our bloggers will be telling about Douglas’ travels in this special night “rat safari” so make sure to come back Tuesday for more on his interesting trip to some of the most high profile alleys in New York City that are infested with rats.

If you have a rat infestation problem in New York or New Jersey, it’s time to call out a pest control expert!

Stern Environmental Group would like to take this opportunity to apologize to our faithful customers and readers.  We were recently notified by some of our customers that they had received some very strange email messages which initially looked like they were coming from our company.  Once investigated, we realized that our Stern Twitter account had been hacked by some unscrupulous people on November 4th and November 9th!  Hacking into someone’s online business sources is completely shameful and unethical!

We would like all of our customers and readers to know that Stern never participates in spaming or phishing schemes.  We will never contact you to ask you for any password or credit card information either. Stern strives to provide our readers with the most updated information about bed bugs, bed bug products, bed bug services, and other important pest and urban wildlife information.  Through our extensive research and experience, we are able to bring you interesting and sometimes even funny stories that are directly linked to the industry that we are so passionate about.

If you ever receive any communication from Stern Environmental Group that seems to be out of the ordinary or meets any of the above criteria; we ask that you please contact us immediately so that we can take measures to stop this deceitful practice of others.

We do encourage you all to stop by our Twitter page and view some of our interesting topics and links.