Click Free Pest Control Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free pest control quote today.
Your comment was successfully added
Monday, November 30, 2009
Critters' irritating bite makes sleeping tight tough Detroit -- It started in February when Debra Miller, who works as a caregiver, noticed dozens of red welts on the body of a man she cares for in the Griswold Senior Apartments complex. "We didn't understand what was going on," Miller said. "At first we thought it was the soap. Then we thought it was the fabric softener. Finally, I held up a magnifying glass and saw that something was digging into his skin."
It was bedbugs. And the man's apartment was infested with them.
A resident shows recent bedbug bites at the Griswold Senior Apartments in Detroit. Bedbugs have been spreading in Michigan. (Photo by Robin Buckson / The Detroit News; Detroit) The minuscule blood suckers -- once essentially eradicated in the United States -- have made an explosive comeback. Evidence of their return first showed up in coastal cities of New York and Los Angeles more than a decade ago and, since then, they have spread throughout the nation. Living in walls and mattresses, they can go a year without a blood meal. They come out at night, feasting on blood and leaving ugly welts.
The good news is they don't carry diseases, but they're resistant to modern pesticides and are adept hitchhikers, stowing away in suitcases, pant seams or inside the keys of laptop computers. State health officials put together a task force this year because of the growing number of complaints.
"It's the biggest can of worms I've ever set my foot into," said Erik Foster, medical entomologist with the Michigan Department of Community Health. "Education is a huge issue. A lot of people still don't know they're out there and how they're transmitted. By the time they know they have bedbugs, they've got a pretty healthy infestation."
The first guide for residents, apartment managers and health officials on how to identify and treat the problem is expected to be issued in about a month. Foster expects it to be around 70 pages thick.
"The message we're trying to share is it's not a pest anyone should feel embarrassed or any shame about," said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association. "If people would immediately bring in a trained and licensed professional at the first sign of the infestation, it would really help eradicate the problem."
No community is immune Miller, who lives in the Griswold apartments, has been battling the pests, the apartment management company and sometimes even other residents for months. She's not alone. The bugs are now just about everywhere, said Mark "Shep" Sheperdigian, an entomologist with the extermination company Rose Pest Solutions in Troy. Back in 2002, the company may have received three or four calls, Sheperdigian said. Now, it's in the hundreds. And the numbers continue to grow.
"It's not just the big communities," Sheperdigian said. "Smaller communities as well are starting to feel the pinch. There's no real explanation why they're spreading so rapidly." Increased international travel and the 1972 ban of DDT are considered the two main reasons for the resurgence of the bedbugs, Henriksen said.
"We are hearing of significant bedbug infestation in every state. It's become a prominent global issue as well," she said.
The infestation has led to some creative detection and eradication efforts. High-end New York hotels have brought in trained bedbug-sniffing dogs and their handlers to identify infected rooms.
Heating method works best Last month, the Ohio Department of Agriculture asked the federal government for an emergency exemption to allow the use of Propoxur. The insecticide is used in commercial buildings, on crops and in flea and tick collars for pets. It was removed from home use in the 1990s and can cause nausea and vomiting if swallowed.
Here in Michigan, a few companies are using heat to blast the bugs into oblivion. Heaters brought into rooms raise the temperatures of everything in the room to around 130 degrees -- enough to kill all the life stages of the bedbugs but not hot enough to damage items. The process takes about six hours and can cost $1,000 a room.
It's the eradication method being used at the Griswold and, starting about six weeks ago, at Wayne State University apartment buildings when the need arises.
"We've been successful in keeping them out of the residence halls, but we do have them in our three apartment buildings," said Tim Michael, director of housing at Wayne State University. University officials established a protocol about three years ago involving monthly inspections and treatments.
About two months ago, the university switched from chemical sprays to the heater method of eradication. Michael is optimistic and said the heater method has been 100 percent effective. "It's become one of those things that university housing has to deal with," he said. "We have people coming from all over the country. It comes in their luggage. Everywhere people go, they go with you. We're just battling them."
Apartments and dorms are at the biggest risk for growing bedbug populations, Sheperdigian said. Hotels are too, because of the frequency of travelers coming in and out of rooms.
Proper disposal required Recontamination is common. Miller has seen residents whose apartments were recently treated open up a sealed bag filled with bedbug contaminated clothes and take items back into the apartment.
Wholesale dumping of infected items can further compound the problem. When cases first came up at Cathedral Tower, a Wayne State University-area high-rise, residents' items were thrown out into bins. People would then fish them out.
"The management was just throwing stuff in the Dumpsters," said Ted Phillips, executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition, a nonprofit providing housing-related services to Detroit residents.
"We were begging them not to do that."
"I've seen people take mattresses out of the Dumpster and bring them right back in the building," Miller said.
The coalition works with people such as Miller on rent and housing issues, helping people set up escrow accounts, into which they deposit rent money until management companies address the bedbug problem.
Steve Pardo - The Detroit News November 30, 2009
Back To News
More:
News - Bedbugs Are Back in Michigan - Rose Pest Solutions
- Lawsuit Claims Waldorf Astoria Had Bedbugs - September 5th, 2011 [September 5th, 2011]
- Luke and Lique Bed bugs training day Michigan Aug 25, 2011 - September 8th, 2011 [September 8th, 2011]
- Manhattan/michigan-mom-sues-waldorfastoria-over-Bedbugs - September 21st, 2011 [September 21st, 2011]
- Ladybugs at the Hotel - Video - December 3rd, 2011 [December 3rd, 2011]
- Fight Mite and Bed Bug Bite - Video - December 19th, 2011 [December 19th, 2011]
- Couple With Bed Bugs Contacts Call 3 For Help - Video - January 20th, 2012 [January 20th, 2012]
- Fox 17 News Feb 11 2011 Family Living with Bed Bugs.wmv - Video - February 6th, 2012 [February 6th, 2012]
- BedBugExterminator911.com Offers Complimentary Sample Of Non-Pesticide Solution To Subside Bed Bug Exterminator Cost - February 14th, 2012 [February 14th, 2012]
- Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids/Battle Creek region ranks in Top 50 for bed bugs - March 26th, 2012 [March 26th, 2012]
- Anteco Pest Control - Video - March 31st, 2012 [March 31st, 2012]
- What you should know abound bedbugs and hotels - May 25th, 2012 [May 25th, 2012]
- Health Buzz: Female Doctors Paid Less - June 15th, 2012 [June 15th, 2012]
- Bed Bugs Michigan - Bed Bug.org - November 3rd, 2013 [November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bugs in Michigan - Bed Bug KnowledgeBase - November 3rd, 2013 [November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bugs Metro-Detroit - Pest, Bed bug and Insect Removal in ... - November 3rd, 2013 [November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bugs - Bed Bug Control Company - Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Metro ... - November 9th, 2013 [November 9th, 2013]
- CDC - EHS - Topics - Bed Bugs - Centers for Disease Control ... - November 10th, 2013 [November 10th, 2013]
- Bed Bugs Exterminator Warren, MI providing bed bugs pest control ... - November 11th, 2013 [November 11th, 2013]
- Michigan, Bed Bug Reports | National Bed Bug Registry Database And ... - November 14th, 2013 [November 14th, 2013]
- Bed Bugs - Bed Bug Control Company - Get Rid of Bed Bugs in ... - November 18th, 2013 [November 18th, 2013]
- Bed Bugs Exterminator Warren, MI providing bed bugs pest ... - November 23rd, 2013 [November 23rd, 2013]
- Bed Bug Control Services | Detroit, Cleveland And Throughout ... - November 25th, 2013 [November 25th, 2013]
- michigan — Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com - November 27th, 2013 [November 27th, 2013]
- Bed Bugs Muskegon - City of Muskegon - December 2nd, 2013 [December 2nd, 2013]
- Troy Pest Control | Bed Bug Identification, Prevention And Control - December 15th, 2013 [December 15th, 2013]
- Bed Bug Lawsuit Types Examples and Results - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Bed bugs in Michigan; new Michigan bed bug manual — Got bed ... - January 16th, 2014 [January 16th, 2014]
- Bed bugs in Michigan; new Michigan bed bug manual — Got ... - January 27th, 2014 [January 27th, 2014]
- Bed bugs in Michigan; new Michigan bed bug manual Got ... - February 3rd, 2014 [February 3rd, 2014]
- michigan Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com - February 3rd, 2014 [February 3rd, 2014]
- Bed Bugs Muskegon City of Muskegon - February 10th, 2014 [February 10th, 2014]
- michigan Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com - bed bug news ... - February 10th, 2014 [February 10th, 2014]
- Bed Bugs Muskegon - March 8th, 2014 [March 8th, 2014]
- Bed Bugs Trouble Subsidized Housing in Michigan, My Cleaning Products Suggests a Pesticide-Exempt Spray to Help Public ... - March 11th, 2014 [March 11th, 2014]
- Michigan - Kill Bed Bugs | Best Bed Bug Treatment ... - April 2nd, 2014 [April 2nd, 2014]
- Bed Bug Registry Database Michigan, Usa, National Bed Bug ... - May 8th, 2014 [May 8th, 2014]
- About Bed Bugs Detroit | Detroit, Michigan, United States ... - October 2nd, 2014 [October 2nd, 2014]
- Read 19 Bed Bug Reports for Baymont Inn, Baymont Inn ... - November 19th, 2014 [November 19th, 2014]
- Worst cities for bed bugs: Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo crawling up the list - January 22nd, 2015 [January 22nd, 2015]
- Worst cities for bed bugs: Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo crawling ... - January 23rd, 2015 [January 23rd, 2015]
- Michigan - Bed Bug Store - July 29th, 2015 [July 29th, 2015]
- Bed Bugs - Pest Control | Griffin Pest - August 9th, 2015 [August 9th, 2015]
- Bed Bugs Pictures: Actual Size, Stages and Skin Bites - September 24th, 2015 [September 24th, 2015]
- Eradico Pest Services | Bed Bug Control Experts | Michigan - May 4th, 2016 [May 4th, 2016]
- 'Don't let the bed bugs bite' - Tri-County Times: News For Fenton ... - Fenton Tri County Times - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Experts offer tips to avoid bedbugs during spring break travel - WWMT-TV - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Michigan, United States Bed Bug Registry Map Bed Bug ... - December 26th, 2017 [December 26th, 2017]
- How to inspect your hotel room for bed bugs Bug Gwen - March 12th, 2018 [March 12th, 2018]
- Bed Bugs | Residence Life | Western Michigan University - April 26th, 2018 [April 26th, 2018]
- Bed Bugs in Michigan: a Report | Griffin Pest Solutions - August 5th, 2018 [August 5th, 2018]
- Michigan Has a Lot of Bed Bugs Including Grand Rapids - August 19th, 2018 [August 19th, 2018]
- Bed Bug Heat Treatments - Residential - Rose Pest Solutions - November 17th, 2018 [November 17th, 2018]
- Bedbug Laws By State | Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog - February 3rd, 2019 [February 3rd, 2019]
- Bed Bugs | Eco Pest Control of Michigan - February 4th, 2019 [February 4th, 2019]
- Bed bugs found on chairs at Mott Community College - MLive.com - October 22nd, 2019 [October 22nd, 2019]
- Michigan Bed Bug Hotel and Apartment Reports ... - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- Exterminator Says He Regularly Treats Rideshare Vehicles For Bed Bugs - GM Authority - March 1st, 2020 [March 1st, 2020]
- Ypsilanti library to reopen Thursday after closure for bed bug treatment - MLive.com - March 10th, 2020 [March 10th, 2020]
- Bed Bug Control | Pesticide Research Institute - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- Lincoln Manor property manager responds to bed bug issue WBKB 11 - WBKB-TV - October 24th, 2020 [October 24th, 2020]
- What to expect after bed bug treatment - MSU Extension - November 21st, 2022 [November 21st, 2022]
- Are Bed Bugs Still a Problem For These Four Cities in Michigan? - November 21st, 2022 [November 21st, 2022]
Click Free Exterminator Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free exterminator quote today.