Category Archives: Bed Bugs Colorado

Bedbug have made a comeback in US cities, including Denver, which ranks 8th according to Orkin. (HO/AFP/Getty Images)

Denver ranked eighth among U.S. cities for the severity of its bedbug infestation last year, according to a report Thursday from Orkin, the pest-control firm.

Atlanta-based Orkin, which has a nationwide presence, compared cities based on the number of bedbug treatments the firm performed. Denver-Aurora, which ranks 21st for population among metro areas, moved up from ninth in 2013 to eighth last year but has improved from the No. 4 ranking held in 2012 and 2011.

Combined, Colorado Springs and Pueblo ranked 44th among the cities studied, down from 42nd in 2013.

Chicago, for the third year in a row, reported the most severe infestation, with the hard-to-shake pests taking hold in numerous public spaces, including downtown office buildings, police and fire stations, schools and a movie theater, Orkin reported.

At one point, the U.S. seemed to have conquered bedbugs, with infestations dormant for several decades. But the blood-sucking pests reappeared with a vengeance at the turn of the millennium.

Nationally, Americans spent $70 million to treat infestations back in 2004. In 2013, they spent $446 million.

Orkin reports an 18 percent jump last year in revenues related to bedbug treatments.

Although bedbugs don't transmit diseases like other insects, they can cause skin problems, disrupt sleep and contribute to social isolation and psychological stress.

This month, the National Pest Management Association hosted a global conference that drew 450 people to Denver to discuss bedbugs and how to eliminate them.

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Ouch! Denver ranks eighth among U.S. cities for bed bugs

Rose Eckert-Jantzie of ZappBug places a suitcase into the ZappBug Oven 2 on display at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel. The portable heat treatment enclosure heats the suitcase and its belongings to 120 degrees. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

"Don't let the bedbugs bite" carries a much different meaning for about 450 people who gathered in Denver on Thursday and Friday for a conference dedicated to fighting the loathsome pests.

Bedbugs, a bane to humans for millennia, had mostly faded from public concern in the United States in recent decades, until they returned with a vengeance around 2000.

A lot of the institutional knowledge to detect and treat the bugs had vanished, and conferences offer a way to share the latest research and treatment methods, said National Pest Management Association vice president Jim Fredericks.

The Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel hosted the Global Bed Bug Summit in December 2013 and again this year, not because the problem is any worse in Colorado, but because of the state's central location, he said.

Bedbugs, whose bites can trigger itching and skin irritation, aren't disease transmitters like mosquitoes. They focus on humans, making cross-species disease transmission rare. And when they do bite, they tend to feast on the one or two occupants in a bed.

When the blood they ingest contains HIV, hepatitis or other viruses, they metabolize the pathogens in some way that hinders transmission, noted Stphane Perron, an environmental health scientist with the Montreal Public Health Department.

The larger and still underappreciated danger from bedbugs comes in the mental toll they take on those suffering infestations, or who believe they are, Perron said.

Bedbugs hit humans in the most intimate of settings, their beds, and when they are most vulnerable, while asleep, making them harder to escape than, say, mosquitoes or ants.

A Montreal study of people in vulnerable populations, like the ill and elderly, found those facing bedbugs infestations were five times more likely to suffer anxiety and sleep deprivation.

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Bed bug warriors gather in Denver summit

Walter Penny watches as his dog, Macaroni, sniffs a blanket for bed bugs during a training session on July 30. Penny runs a company called Colorado Bed Bug K9 and says he and Macaroni can accurately cover more ground than a human inspection could. ( Photos by Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )

A growing infestation of blood-sucking bugs is making it increasingly difficult for Coloradans and people across the country to sleep tight.

Bed bugs were largely eradicated in the U.S. after World War II, but now they're making a comeback. In the past decade they have increasingly infected homes, hotels, summer camps, and even buses, taxis, movie theaters and a New York City courthouse. Their bites cause skin to swell and itch.

Already, more than 30 members of the Colorado Pest Control Association said the problem of bed bugs has "increased greatly" as a problem in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by Whitney Cranshaw, an entomologist at Colorado State University .

These bedbugs belong to Walter Penny, who uses them to train his dog, Macaroni. The bugs are about the size of this capital "O."

Michael Potter, an urban entomologist at the University of Kentucky, blamed the bug boom on increased international travel and the elimination of pesticides such as DDT.

Potter's studies suggest that bed bugs are becoming resistant to the insecticides typically used to kill them.

"People need to understand that we have a globally building problem that is not going to go away, but will increasingly touch more and more people's lives," he said. "It isn't a huge problem in cities like Denver yet, but it's only a matter of time."

Anecdotal reports of the growing bug problem in Colorado include stories from Halcyon House, a low-income apartment complex in Denver, where an infestation has continued for three years despite weekly applications of pesticides at the building.

"We think these treatments will have to be ongoing forever," said Annette Peterson , the chief operating officer for Kier Property Management and Real Estate , which owns Halcyon House. "I don't think we'll ever be a hundred percent free of them."

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Bed Bugs Stage A Comeback In Colorado

There are lots of pests in this world, and at some point everybody will certainly find themselves battling a bug. Bed bugs can invade our garden, our home, structures; the list goes on and on. The question iswhats best bed bug extermination in Silverthorne?

It is necessary to understand ways to correctly manage these pests that invade our lives. It is almost difficult to eliminate pests, but it is important to control these invasive pests. There are different approaches of regulating pests; these can consist of chemical control, biological control, mechanical approaches, or a combination thereof.

Mechanical bed bugs control is typically the most cost effective and if carried out before a substantial infestation takes place can produce preferred outcomes. Mechanical techniques consist of hand picking (such as pulling weeds) and traps (such as a computer mouse trap). Mechanical methods of bedbugs control are generally the most environmentally friendly.

Biological bed bugs control inSilverthorne, Summit county includes insecticides that are derived from plants or other naturally occurring elements such as bacteria. Chemical bed bugs control consists of the use of more toxic artificial pesticides. Chemical bed bugs control is not eco-friendly and is never ever thought about as an organic method of control.

Integrated Bed bugs Management is the collaborated use of bedbugs and ecological details along with readily available bed bugs control approaches, including cultural, biological, genetic and chemical methods, to avoid inappropriate levels of bed bugs issue by the most affordable means, and with the least possible risk to people, property, and the environment. (Procedures of the National Integrated Bedbugs Management Online forum).

Integrated Bed bugs Management stresses the use of complementary methods of bed bugs control such as the introduction of natural predators. This approach of bed bugs control is far more ecologically sound than depending on chemical methods, home remedies for bed bugs.

The first step in bedbugs control is to recognize the problem. Often identifying the bedbugs is obvious, if you see a computer mouse scurrying across the floor it is evident you have requirement for bed bugs control. If you have a big invasion of computer mice, you might require to resort to more powerful chemical techniques or find it essential to work with a professional pest control expert to rid your house of the bed bugs problem.

There are lots of pests in this world, and at some point everybody will discover themselves fighting a bug and ask whats best bed bug extermination in Silverthorne, CO 80498. It is almost impossible to remove pests, but it is important to regulate these invasive pests. There are various approaches of regulating pests; these can include chemical control, biological control, mechanical techniques, or a combination thereof.

Integrated Bed bugs Management is the collaborated use of bedbugs and ecological info along with available bed bugs control techniques, including cultural, biological, chemical and genetic approaches, to prevent undesirable levels of bed bugs issue by the most cost-effective methods, and with the least possible threat to individuals, home, and the environment. Sometimes recognizing the bed bugs is obvious, if you see a mouse scooting throughout the floor it is obvious you have requirement for bedbugs control.

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Thinking About Bed Bugs Treatment in Silverthorne, CO 80498

Town, Shandoka respond to several cases of bed bugs

TELLURIDE Ugh, bed bugs. Because of their particularly creepy appearance, their taste for human blood and the high degree of difficulty in eliminating them, the bed bug is one of the most stigmatized of the creepy-crawlies. And this bugs nasty reputation has not been helping matters much regarding a recently reported infestation at the Shandoka apartment complex, which, according to Town Manager Greg Clifton, has been vastly exaggerated, and blame placed disproportionately on Shandoka management.

Although, according to Shandoka Manager Dave Johnson, only six apartments, out of the total 134 units, have confirmed reports of bed bugs (meaning a live bug was found) since the summer, Clifton believes the reaction of an anonymous source has painted a skewed picture for the residents of the town.

For starters, Clifton said, The recent reporting by one resident that Shandoka apartments have been infested by bed bugs for months is both inaccurate and alarmist.

Clifton furthermore emphasized that the town has been taking appropriate measures to both address the problem and prevent future occurrences. The reality for Shandoka residents is that there have been some isolated occurrences with bed bugs over the past several months, largely attributed to used furniture, he said, and proper measures have been taken to address the problem.

The sky is not falling and panicshould not set the tenor here, Clifton added, explaining that due to a recent reporting, the town is now seen as the culprit, while Shandoka residents are seen simply as victims.

In fact, the situation is complex, and it appears that the town not the culprit in how the bed bugs got into the apartments in the first place, nor how they spread from one apartment to another.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has long been a pest feeding on blood, causing itchy bites and generally irritating their human hosts. However, unlike most public health pests, bed bugs are not known to transmit or spread disease. Approximately the size of an apple seed, they are known as hitchhikers, spreading by catching rides on furniture or clothing.

It is important to note that bed bugs are imported by the residents in one way or another, Johnson said, continuing, the most obvious being used furniture, which has been the confirmed source in two cases, or clothing or luggage, which they can also hitch a ride on.

Next time you think about snagging a free sofa or mattress on Sweet Deals, either think twice, or inspect it thoroughly.

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Six Shandoka Apartments Treated for Bed Bugs : the Watch