Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

The bedbug epidemic is damaging many businesses.  Hotels, apartments, and other residential rentals are the more obvious victims to this spreading problem.  But they are not the only ones. Airplanes and movie theaters have been listed before, but this is a new one.  A retail clothing store gets hit and bad enough to close up shop for the 4th of July.  But this wasn’t just any retail clothing store, this was Hollister of New York, NY. And a few days later Abercrombie & Fitch closed for bed bugs as well.

How does this happen and what next?

Up until about 2 years ago the bedbug problem in the US was pretty much extinct.  Quoting the Illinois Department of Health’s website the bedbug “remains an occasional invader with infestations arising in homes and swank hotels as well as apartment buildings and homeless shelters.” Not only is this information  outdated, but it incorrectly reinforces the idea that bedbugs are associated with a lack of care on the establishments part.  It does correctly say that hosts have no idea that they are even catering to these blood suckers. “The bed bug’s adaptation to humans is so complete that its bite is rarely felt until well after the bug leaves its victim.” Thus controlling this epidemic is extremely difficult because by the time the problem is realized it’s a full blown infestation. And hosts will unknowingly carry them from hotel to home, from home to the retail store, from the retail store to the movie theater. Bed bugs will infest any location frequented by humans.

Fortunately getting rid of bedbugs in sheets and linens isn’t too difficult. The pest control company in New York assisting Hollister wants to assure people that the clothes will be fine.

“Bedbug expert Timothy Wong, the technical director of M&M Environmental who worked with Moving Right Along to help treat Hollister’s merchandise and is intimately familiar with the case, says that the clothes are fine after undergoing fumigation in an off-site warehouse — that process is foolproof (and smellproof — you’d never know the clothes had been treated, Wong says)”

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/is_hollisters_bedbug_problem_r.html

But the problem could be far from over.  If the bedbugs hit both Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch then the pests could be coming from a warehouse.  Plus, it’s going to be difficult for the stores to regain the millions lost while the problem is being solved.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcbedbugs.htm

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/03/2010-07-03_bedbugs_shutter_2nd_store_seaports_abercrombie__fitch_infested.html

http://mmbuzz.mandmenvironmental.com/2010/07/bed-bugs-shut-down-new-york-retail.html

After a recent visit from an exterminator declaring they were indeed infested with bed bugs the Wilmington Fire Station threw out mattresses, upholstered furniture and carpets, anything that might be housing the bed bugs.   And these little blood suckers cost more then a few drops of blood.  The total cost to the fire station was over $5000 between the loss of the furniture and the pest controller’s bill of $800+.

ABC reported on the matter first.  Also citing a CDC saying bedbugs are up by 500% over the last few years.  Considering that bed bugs had been virtually eradicated from the US over 20 years ago, that number doesn’t do the Bed Bug epidemic justice.

Fortunately doctors still have not found any serious health risks associated with bedbugs or the spread of disease through bedbugs.

Interesting points specifically about this bed bug case – Was it really necessary to throw out all the furniture?

Perhaps not, but throwing away old mattresses that need to be replaced anyways will certainly help cure a bed bug problem.  Perhaps consumers should consider the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

And prevention is easy.  A proper mattress cover will thwart any attacks made by bedbugs on your resting place. Yes, it really is that simple.  No need to pay $300 per room as some exterminators quote for bedbug treatments.

Get a mattress cover today so you can rest easy… pun intended.