NYC Bed Bug Registry Infestation Maps, Residential and Hotel

Redacted By Lee van der Voo, Managing Director | 7 hours ago

Pietr Naskrecki / CDC/Harvard University

Cimex lectularius

The thing that sucks about bedbugs is that if they bite you, you might not know it for a few days. Or if theyre biting around Oregon, you might not know it at all. I had this experience once: bedbugs in a hotel. At the time I didnt realize that a bedbug bite has such a delayed reaction that it can take a few days to know youve been feasted upon. Which is why, four days after an unwitting encounter with bedbugs at a hotel in Michigan, I came home to what seemed like an allergic reaction to nothing. Creeping skin and welts. Dawning realization. And a week of household mayhem that I wish to never repeat.

The experience gave me a rather acute distaste for Oregons bedbug privacy law. Yes, this exists; an actual law protecting the whereabouts of bedbugs. Its an exemption to the Oregon Public Records Law. And I will hold it now up as an affront to reason, because its a perfect example of why the Oregon Legislature should approve the creation of a Sunshine Committee to review exemptions, an idea that got a public hearing June 29 and may be approved before this sessions end.

The bedbug exemption? This ones a gem. In a category of legislative devolution, it should be gold-foiled and enshrined. Generations of gawkers should stand before it, wondering, as I do, How ? In concept, it is like an airplane with one wing, a building made of Jell-O But Ill do my best to describe its merits, because early on it had some.

Passed as HB 2131 in the 2013 regular session of the Legislature, the bedbug law requires certain information pertaining to bedbug infestations to be held confidentially by public health authorities and exempts information from disclosure under public records law.

As is the case with such exemptions, this one was created by well-meaning people who believed that by making information about bedbug extermination confidential, they could pass a law requiring pesticide companies to share data with the Oregon Health Authority and other public health agencies. The plan was to give the state and its counties valuable public safety knowledge about how to fight bedbugs. The data, they hoped, would lead to understanding about the size of the problem, and plans for better ways to deal with it.

Betsy Straus, legislative director of the ACLU at the time, rightly pointed out that the privacy information the law sought to except already was exempt from disclosure under Public Records Law in Oregon, and on a case-by-case basis. That, she said, would have allowed for information to be released to someone when it might have an even more immediate impact on that persons individual health. Today it isnt quite clear why pest control companies sought this extra layer of privacy in the form of exemption from Oregon Public Records Law. And Straus questioned in 2013 whether the states law would really yield much public benefit without transparency. The policy wasnt unprecedented health officials often offer confidentiality in exchange for critical data that helps them fight disease. San Francisco, for example, requires exterminators to report the number of units sprayed by U.S. Census tract monthly. Such legislation puts useful and transparent data in the governments hand without a privacy exemption for property owners.

But then this happened: the legislation which sprang from a public work group that included health officials and pest control companies was haggled over until pest control companies compliance with the reporting became voluntary. Thus, in researching the effect of this law for this column, I found not a single public health report, improved bug-fighting battle plan, or better-informed bedbug-fighting policy as a result of this exemption. In fact, theres been no greater understanding of the whereabouts of bedbugs than there was before this exemption. And thats because pest control companies never volunteered to play ball.

As it turned out, without the stick, the carrot was not enough, said Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, the public information officer for the Multnomah County Health Department. No information has been voluntarily forthcoming since the bill was passed.

Every. Item. Of fabric. In my house. Every shirt. Every pair of pants, shorts, pajamas. Every sock. Every sheet. Every throw blanket, pillowcase, bedspread. All washed in super hot.

Instead, said Sullivan-Springhetti, the countys work group met to discuss what data was available from pest control companies and the details the county would need to improve the public response to bedbugs for nine months. In the end, the industry walked away and said, This isnt workable, were not comfortable sharing this information.

Yet Oregon blazed a trail with this law. During the 2013 legislative session, Governing magazine, a trade publication for government and legislative types, called it an unusual deal between the states Legislature and its exterminators.

How unusual?

Four years later, Oregon is still unique in protecting the confidentiality of bedbug treatments among states surveyed nationally by the EPA last fall. No other state offers confidentiality around bedbug infestations. And Oregon doesnt protect its residents or guests against them in the first place.

For example, the state doesnt require landlords, hotel owners, bed and breakfasts or any other business that offers overnight accommodations (save, ironically, for campgrounds) to keep those facilities free of bedbugs, as other states do. Some states have taken protections further, extending them as far as railroad cars (Illinois), migrant camps (Iowa), orphanages and juvenile jails (Wisconsin), even public schools (New York). South Dakota protects vacation homes, too, perhaps understanding that a secret bedbug problem is a black eye that the states tourism industry doesnt need.

Yet Oregon still doesnt mandate the remediation of bedbug infestations anywhere except campgrounds, and it doesnt prohibit landlords, hotel owners, or Airbnb hosts from renting out rooms that are known to be infested with bedbugs. This, while a law thats never been used to collect data about bedbug infestations remains on the books, standing guard against disclosures about bedbug infestations, potentially complicating the fact that, by law, public housing inspectors just like restaurant inspections are still supposed to be public.

If policy were signs, this one would read something like this: Welcome to Oregon. Take our bedbugs with you. Getting paranoid yet? Me, too.

Mine is an informed paranoia, heightened because, in my own experience of being feasted on by bugs, it took me days to realize it. Days of evaluating where I slept, what I ate, whose cat I scratched, and whether that guy at the airport looked like he might have a host-jumping skin disease. Its a lot of time to wonder about a path to exposure. And absent any public information about hotels, restaurants, movie theaters and other places that might have been a source of bedbugs, one can only guess at what action they ought to take to protect the next person.

This is what that looked like for me: Four days after I returned home from my trip to the Michigan bug hotel, I was popping Zyrtec like a champ. I didnt know what Id eaten, why my skin felt so weird, or whether I could go to work or needed a nonstop shower. An hour or two of internet searching told me I didnt have a spider bite on my arm. And a few photos made me realize that those sheets back at the hotel occasionally dusty, like hubby had been eating dessert in the bed again probably had been visited by bedbugs.

It was a pretty dramatic realization. After all, four days had gone by. Id already hung my clothes back in the closet, put my suitcase back in storage and plopped back into my own bed for a few nights. So it was only after I called my brother-in-law (who, lucky for me, happens to be in pest control) in a semi-hysterical state that I began to understand what a hell-inducing experience this was going to be. On the advice of the family expert, I planted the feet of my bed in baking soda, combed every inch of my furniture with a flashlight, and then washed every item of fabric in my house. Let me say that again, real slow: Every. Item. Of fabric. In my house. Every shirt. Every pair of pants, shorts, pajamas. Every sock. Every sheet. Every throw blanket, pillowcase, bedspread. All washed in super hot. And all the fabric-covered things that dont go in the wash? Pillows, stuffed animals, dog toys all those go in the dryer. The rest got vacuumed about 50 times.

Turns out I didnt bring any bedbugs home. None I didnt kill, anyway. No hitchhikers on my suitcase, which I sprayed with half a can of bug spray to be sure. But that didnt stop my life or my basement from becoming an interminable tower of laundry, or from my having to take time off work just to clean my house, or to contemplate hitting my mattress with a Sawzall and throwing it out the window with a blazing torch behind it.

Would I rather have avoided this whole experience? Yes. And the notion that any hotel that inflicts any such experience on a guest is entitled to its privacy is infuriating, absurd and also nave. This exemption never would have saved bug-infested hotels from the fate of 100 Yelp reviews. It only would have prevented 100 Yelp reviewers from having a better experience.

Of course, the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association supported this approach to bedbugs in Oregon. An effective response relies on good data, and we believe that data should be collected in a way that fully protects the privacy of those businesses most impacted, wrote the associations Nellie deVries in testimony supporting the bill. Of course! Data protection and privacy! Who doesnt support those? But we know that if people could actually avoid hotels that were infested with bedbugs, or even areas of hotels that are infested with bedbugs, they would. And they have a right to.

But this column is not about bedbugs. Its about secrecy. And so at least our bedbug law finally has a use: to underscore how badly Oregon needs to review the more than 550 exemptions to Oregon Public Records Law, many of which probably never did what was intended and, meanwhile, threaten harm to the public.

The Oregon Legislature currently is considering HB 2101, which in its present form proposes a Sunshine Committee to review exemptions, and that each freshly proposed exemption comes with a public impact statement that addresses what the impact to closing off records has on the Oregon public.

This group would include at least one public member, and the option for public participation at meetings designed to review these laws. It is badly needed in Oregon to prevent more laws like this one.

Lee van der Voo is managing director of InvestigateWest. She coordinates and reports on projects in Oregon. She can be reached at lee@invw.org.

See the article here:
Oregon's bedbug secrecy law who are we protecting? - InvestigateWest

What to Do When Bedbugs Bite at Work SHRM Bedbugsthose nasty parasites that feed off human bloodare typically a household problem. But every now and then, the critters find their way into the workplace, as they did last week at BuzzFeed's headquarters in New York City. The infestation ...

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What to Do When Bedbugs Bite at Work - SHRM

The pests account for 21% of liability claims, according to insurance provider Allianz.

Animal incidents, including biting bed bugs, are a leading driver of insurance claims and losses can be significant, says global insurance company Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) in a new report, Global Claims Review: Liability in Focus.

AGCS analyzed more than 1,800 animal-related liability insurance claims that occurred between 2011 and 2016 on which it was a named insurer (either primary or excess). The top cause of such claims was deer incidents (58%, or 1,090 claims) which largely involve collisions with vehicles, which caused losses on average in excess of ($4,225) over this period. In many locations in the United States, such accidents are a major concern that may lead to vehicle debilitation, property damage, bodily injuries or even passenger deaths. The peak period is during the rutting season, usually in October and November.

Bed bug bites/infestation (21%, or 397 total claims) was the second top cause of animal-related liability claims according to the AGCS study, followed by insect bites/infestation (8%, or 147 claims) at third place.

The number of bed bug incidents, in particular, is on the rise in the U.S., according to the Bedbug Registry, a nationwide database of bed bug reports and complaints. According to the database, bed bug sightings in New York hotels alone jumped more than 44% between 2014 and 2015.

This trend is reflected more widely in the AGCS report, which reveals a gradual increase in the number of related claims received over the past five years. While bed bugs are found year-round, infestations and incidents peak during the warmer months of the year April to August. The number of claims, for example, received in May are double those received in February.

Dog-related incidents ranging from bites to mauling (6%, or 114 claims) was the fourth highest cause of animal-related liability claims, according to the report, followed by incidents with cattle caused by charging, bumping and other accidents (4%, or 82 claims).

Other unusual animal-related liability claims include a hotel guest whose room was invaded by a flying squirrel, another whose hearing aid and slippers were chewed and destroyed by a rodent, and at least two people who were attacked by aggressive peacocks. Peacocks with an attitude?!?!

Animal-related claims comprised almost 2% of the 100,000 claims investigated in the report, making these the eighth top cause of loss, based on number of claims received by insurers (see infographic).

Excerpt from:
Bed Bug Liability Claims on the Rise, Allianz Reports - PCT Magazine

A review of news and product information from industry suppliers.

Editors note: Suppliers and PMPs, if you have a bed bug-related news item or product youd like to have highlighted in an upcoming issue, please send a press release and a high-resolution photo to jdorsch@giemedia.com.

The year: 2008. The place: Nassau County, New York the Village of Hempstead in particular. As Nassaus assistant district attorney (ADA) for community affairs, Ren Fiechter wanted to address issues that most affected quality of life in Hempstead.

Conversations with community leaders revealed that bed bugs ranked high among issues that tenants often felt powerless to control. So Fiechter lost no time in convening a 60-member Bed Bug Task Force to help landlords and tenants better understand and manage this scourge. Task force members included Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, community IPM coordinator for the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM) at Cornell University.

Now, for nine years of focused leadership on the Bed Bug Task Force and his commitment to Hempstead and Nassau County as well as IPM Fiechter received an Excellence in IPM award.

Ren wasted no time in learning everything he could about bed bugs, said Gangloff-Kaufmann. Hes also just a thoughtful, friendly person. Those are attributes you need if youre going to bring together such an array of tenants, landlords, pest professionals and community agencies, then make it work.

The publics knowledge of bed bugs often is based on myths and misconceptions. Helping people get past these was among the most important issues the task force faced, said Bryan Matthews, director of environmental investigation with the Nassau County Department of Health.Myth number one? If you have bed bugs your house is a mess. Not so. Anyone, anywhere is fair game. Bed bug control requires a comprehensive approach and the involvement of community leaders is critical.

Ren is a shining example of how one person can serve and protect his community using IPM, said Jim Skinner, president of A & C Pest Management. Under his leadership over the years, the task force held public events that drew hundreds of people and promoted IPM as key to coping with this growing crisis.

Fiechter received his award on March 24 at the annual meeting of the Community IPM Coordinating Council.

Delta Five Systems offers a Telemetered Pest Monitoring System (TPMS) that provides early detection of pests, including insects and rodents. TPMS is a remotely monitored pest detection system that will alert pest management professionals the instant a pest is encountered. The lure-agnostic and placement-agnostic device maximizes PMPs ability to capture pests while minimizing cost, the firm says. Features include: Real-time alerts, including photos; discreet and compact; WiFi enabled; helps eliminate infestations; and proven 98% effective at capturing bed bugs and other insects before a customer/guest encounter, the company reports. For more information visit TheBedBugSolution.com.

The Bugo, a simple-to-use adhesive disc-shaped device that lasts up to eight weeks, is virtually invisible and acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector to infestations, the manufacturer says. The Bugo disc sticks on the floor around the bottom of the bed legs to prevent bed bugs from getting into the bed. New from the manufacturer is the The Bugo Tape, a product for floor beds and beds with no legs. Each packet of The Bugo Tape is available in rolls of 32.8 feet, which is enough for one application around a king-size bed, the firm says. Like the original Bugo Discs, the tape acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector. It is virtually invisible, lasts up to eight weeks and uses no pesticides. The Bugo Tape is easy to apply and discard, and it is available in soft floor application for surfaces such as carpets and rugs, or hard floor application for surfaces such as floor boards and tiles.

The Bugo is available through its distributors, which can be found on The Bugo website thebugo.co.uk/where-to-buy.

Bed Bug Fix, which eliminates and prevents bed bug infestations, is now scent-free, the manufacturer reports. Formulated to be 100 percent natural, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-staining, and used around children and pets, this product is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS). Its also approved as a 25b product by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and part of the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDAs) BioPreferred program. Octopamine, the insects equivalent to adrenaline, regulates their heart rate, movement, behavior and metabolism. Bed Bug Fix targets and blocks octopamine neurotransmitter receptors, and kills on contact, according to the manufacturer. To place an order, call 800/825-9973.

P.E.S.T. Relief International embarked on its first disaster relief project in Kinston, N.C. in February. The Kennedy Home for Children was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew, and many of the homes were left vulnerable to flooding. P.E.S.T. Relief International responded to the call to partner with Bed Land located in Shallotte, N.C., to provide encasements for 48 new mattresses that were donated to improve the homes livable conditions.

A team of P.E.S.T. Relief Responders, including Marty and Cindy Jones of Prestige Pest Control and Kevin Yow with Seaira Global, visited the home to deliver and install mattress and box spring encasements which were donated by Mattress Safe.

P.E.S.T. Relief International was created for the pest management industry to bring comfort and relief to orphaned, abused, and at-risk individuals in-order to give hope and enable life-transformation. For more information, visit the organization at http://www.pestreliefinternational.com.

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Bed Bug News and Notes - PCT - Pest Control Technology - PCT Magazine

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE June 22, 2017 06/22/2017 12:34 pm By Adam K. Raymond Share BUG.

OMG. EWW. WTF. BuzzFeed has bedbugs. Carole Robinson, chief communications officer for the company, sent an email to employees Thursday telling them to work from home because of the infestation at their Gramercy Park headquarters. Poynter has published that email.

Please be advised that bed bugs have been detected at BuzzFeed HQ at 111 East 18th Street. We are acting out of an abundance of caution and asking you to work from home tomorrow to give facilities the chance to deal with this in the fastest and environmentally safest manner. Fumigation will take place as soon as possible tomorrow.

The email goes on to tell employees that they can swing by until 11 a.m. to snag their laptops, but advising them against taking home items that are currently on the floor in the office.

The incident at BuzzFeed HQ is only the latest recent insect attack on a new-media property. Last week, bees swarmed the Vox Media offices in the Financial District.

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Were about to find out what Mattiss Pentagon will do with mostly unchecked authority to conduct a war.

Should Democrats in places like Georgia keep trying to rebuild white support? Or should they focus on minority mobilization? The debate goes on.

A new report suggests Obama knew about Putins intervention in the 2016 election and its aims, but didnt move aggressively until it was too late.

The emergence of a new game plan, from persuasion to motivation.

Look, I dont know who you are, wiseass, Biden reportedly said.

Oops!

One surprised music critic reviews Mystified.

The Justice Departments handling of the Clinton email investigation is at the center of the senators questions.

Dean Heller of Nevada said he could not support legislation as written. Now things get dicey for Mitch McConnell.

Turns out, the former FBI director was attending an event for a nonprofit that works with abused children.

D.C. might still be revolving around legislative gridlock and investigations. But the electoral landscape would be very different.

A U.S. representative said he couldnt back the resolution which condemned violence against women because it supported safe abortion.

Obamacares popularity seems to be peaking just as Republicans get closer to taking it down in legislation that is not popular at all.

The Saudi-led coalition wants the tiny Gulf state to cut off ties with Iran and close Al Jazeera, ultimatums Qatar isnt likely to meet.

Change is slow. Thats why we have to keep working.

She met with a handful of Republican senators this week, but they couldnt agree on a plan.

Unfortunately, this will have to be a Republicans-only exercise.

The president also admitted that his tape bluff was an attempt to intimidate Comeys testimony.

A quick break from the off-camera briefings.

Inclusion of this House deal in the Senate bill shows McConnell playing the long game. But it could encourage shakedowns by fence-sitting senators.

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BuzzFeed Has Bedbugs - NYMag - New York Magazine

On Sunday night's episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver targeted the coal industry. Now they are striking back. In the episode, he pleaded with President Trump to "stop lying to coal miners" about his ability to revive the shrinking industry. Oliver also targetedBob Murray, the notoriously litigious CEO of Murray Energy, even though he knew he was likely to be sued for doing so, as the company sent the show a cease-and-desist order before the episode even aired.

Murray runs the country's largest privately owned coal company, Murray Energy Corporation, and has sued media companies in the past, including recently filing a libel suit againstthe New York Times.Despite that cautionary tale, on the June 18 episode of Last Week Tonight,Oliver said Murray doesn't do enough to protect his miners' safety. He illustrated that point witha government report that concluded thatthe collapse of one of Murray's mines in Utah, which killed nine people, was due tounauthorized mining practices, while Murray claims the collapse actually happened because of an earthquake.

A legal complaint filed on June 21 in the circuit court of Marshall County, West Virginia, states thatOliver and his team "executed a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character of and reputation of Mr. Robert E. Murray and his companies," They called the segment a "callous, vicious, and false attack" that "childishly demeaned and disparaged" Murray, "a 77-year old citizen in ill health," which they claim caused "emotional and physical distress and damage."The complaint also says Murray's legal team tried to share studies with Oliver's staff thatproved an earthquake was responsible for the mine collapse, but were ignored.

HBO, however, stands by Oliver and his team."We have confidence in the staff of Last Week Tonight and do not believe anything in the show this week violated Mr. Murray's or Murray Energy's rights," HBO said in a statement to Fast Company.

[Photo: Wikipedia] ML

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BuzzFeed's NYC office may or may not be infested with bedbugs - Fast Company

Tiny bloodsucking bedbugs have become an epidemic in New York City over the last decade. The little pests have invaded even the cleanest and most expensive apartments in neighborhoods around Manhattan. Here's everything you need to know about bedbugs in NYC:

A bedbug is a wingless, rust-colored insect about the size of an apple seed. Bedbugs are nocturnal parasites, which means they rest during the day and come out to dine on the blood of humans at night.

Bedbugs are attracted by human body heat and the carbon dioxide that we breathe out, and typically favor feasting on our shoulders and arms (ewww).

During feeding, the bedbug's proboscis pierces the skin of its victim, injecting bedbug saliva (double ewww); they typically feed for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. As the little critter fills with blood, its coloring changes from light brown to rust-red.

If you're on the lookout, bedbugs typically hide in cracks and crevices. They especially love to live in bedding and on mattresses, where they have easy access to food (that means you). Other living areas favored by bedbugs include:

Aside from those telltale bites (see below), other signs that bedbugs may have moved in include:

Bedbugs are rarely seen in action by their human victims. The first signs of a bedbug infestation are usually bites.

Bedbug bites are generally painless, though itchy and annoying. They tend to start as swollen weals, then fade to red marks and gradually disappear over a few days.

Experts suggest washing bedbug bites with antiseptic soap to avoid infection. The itching can be treated with calamine lotion or anesthetic creams.

Bedbugs often spread by hitching rides on people's clothing or bags. They jump from host to host when people brush up against each other in crowds (yet another reason to keep your distance on the subway).

They also spread through mattresses. Reconditioned mattresses, which are refurbished old mattresses, often spread bedbugs into stores and homes. In addition, bedbugs can spread when old and new mattresses are transported in the same truck.

Experts say bedbugs have been all but dormant for decades. The recent comeback is said to be primarily the result of increased global travel, along with the banning of potent pesticides like DDT.

Getting rid of bedbugs can be tricky, and in most cases, it's necessary to hire a professional. A qualified exterminator can use stronger insecticides to kill the bedbugs. Repeat visits may be necessary to ensure that all bedbugs are eliminated, considering that in proper conditions, adult bedbugs can survive without a meal for a year or longer.

However, these annoying pests can be eliminated.

Here are some do-it-yourself methods you can try in addition to calling the exterminator:

-- Updated by Elissa Garay

Originally posted here:
Bedbugs in New York City - TripSavvy

It was Friday, May 26 when Ariel Esposito-Bernard was vacuuming her sons bedroom carpet and spotted the first bug.

Horrified, I scooped it into a baggie and stared at it, praying fervently that God turn it into a grasshopper, a spider, a centipede really anything except what it was; a bed bug, the Queens, New York momlater shared on Facebook.

What would follow in the next few days wasas frustrating as it was heartbreaking. Esposito-Bernard says she spent hours at the laundry mat, costing herhundreds of dollars. Night after night, the family was forced to throw awayevery single thing that could not be boiled or washed and dried on high heat. (Their curtains even melted in the process.)

But all their work was useless, and through somber words she shared, its all gone.

Just days after finding the first bug, Esposito-Bernard, her husband Chris, and their sons, 4-year-old Hunter and 19-month-old Sawyer, had lost everything.

I would like to say I was unaffected as I tossed my records, books, kids toys, furniture, shoes, cards, the kids library, rugs, beds, cribs, bookshelves etc in the trash, because in the end, it is just stuff, Esposito-Bernard admits, but I was. I sobbed over my sons trains as I tried to boil them and melted the entire pot. Chuggingtons mixed with Thomas all melted together, salted with my tears. I sobbed as I tossed the books I spent hours reading the boys.

In an interview with Babble, Esposito-Bernard explains that she called an exterminator right away, but that suddenly the week turned into a whirlwind of hell.

The most disturbing part, she says, isthat bed bugs arent just hardto find; theyre nearly impossible to get rid of.

You dont know where the bugs and eggs are, she continues. They are smaller than a grain of rice. They were in between the pages of books, and everything else that we began to inspect. They hide in all the cracks and crevices of the house, and since they dont just come out to chill, they are nearly impossible to clean, or kill.

Between the bed bugs themselves and the pesticides that destroyed everything else during the extermination process, the Esposito-Bernard family had said goodbye tonearly everything they owned.

Eventually we realized we could save nothing We were tossing memories.

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Eventually we realized we could save nothing, she says quietly. We spent hours trying to save my sons books, because they were important to us. The memories of reading the books to him; my husband reading to my son before he was born.

We were tossing memories, she relents.

The photo books, my husband made a huge one for our anniversary, all of the furniture, the kids toys, everything, Esposito-Bernard continues.One of the only things I saved was a handwritten book from my brother, which I sealed into a plastic bag with a note that says dont open until 2019, she says chuckling. I want to make sure that all the eggs are dead.

Its clear that themom-of-two has kept her humor through it all. While she may have lost nearly all of her possessions, she didjokingly point outthat there are still some things that remain a humongous stock pile of melted trains, for example.

In some ways its cathartic, to hear someone in the middle of what many people would consider to be devastating, finding something to smile about.

It was hard, she confesses, My brain kept saying that this is all our stuff; this is everything that we have accumulated. Living in New York, there isnt room for extra [things], so everything that we have, is very important to us. But, it has also been a cleansing time, she says, reflecting on what she has learned through the process.

I have oscillated between losing it and reminding myself its just stuff, Esposito-Bernardshared on Facebook. My family is healthy and intact. It is a season. It. Is. A. Season. It wasnt the books or those specific toys we played with that made [them] feel loved. It wasnt the exact crib we laid the boys in that made them feel safe. It was us. It was our time, our attention and our love that made our home. We will start over. We will build a new home.

And as she quipsto Babble, at least we wont have to hire movers when we move into it!

But jokes aside, the experience has been life-changing for the Esposito-Bernard family, in more ways than one.

I wrote, what I wrote, she says of her Facebook post, because I was trying to make the point that sometimes you have a lot, sometimes you have a little, but none of that is wrapped up in material goods.Right now, we have nothing, but our family is safe and healthy, and everyone that we have ever touched has come around, all at the same time, to stand together with us. And its reminding me that we have a lot. It has been breathtaking and incredible, and is a good example of what I want to teach my boys, that life is really about.

I know a little something about what thats like myself. After my husband left me and our kids five years ago, I lost nearly everything too, and was even thrust into poverty for a period of time.But inthe process, I learned more about myself and of life than I ever could have imagined.

Right now, the Esposito-Bernard family has almost nothing left from the life they used to lead; nothing, that is, except for everything that is truly important.

My son misses his books, Esposito-Bernard says, but what he is learning, is that he still has us.

If you wish to help the Esposito Bernard family build their new future, you can support them through a GoFundMe accountthat was started by their friends.

Little Girl's Airport Tantrum Turns into an Epic 'Moana' Sing-Along

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Family of 4 Loses Everything to Bed Bugs, But Learns What Life Is Really All About - Babble (blog)

Whether youre traveling for work or just taking a vacation, one of the last things you want to see when you drop your bags in your hotel room is an infestation of bed bugs. But are those tiny insects really bed bugs at all?

In a recent survey, researchers from the University of Kentucky found that up to 60% of respondents would switch hotels if they found bed bugs in their room. But, ironically, the same survey found that only 35% of business travelers and 28% of leisure travelers could identify a bed bug in the first place.

"Considering all the media attention paid to bed bugs in recent years, the fact that most travelers still have a poor understanding of them is troubling," said co-author Dr. Michael Potter.

Potter and lead author Dr. Jerrod M. Penn of the UKs Department of Agricultural Economics say that this lack of understanding can be especially harmful to the hotel and hospitality industry.

In an age where online reviews can save or sink a business, they found that most travelers will go out of their way to avoid a hotel with a reputation for bed bugs.

"From a hotel industry perspective, it's worrisome that a single online report of bed bugs would cause the majority of travelers to book different accommodations, irrespective of whether the report is accurate, said Penn. Furthermore, the incident could have involved only one or a few rooms, which the hotel previously eradicated.

The survey does offer some hope to hotels, though. Approximately half of the respondents said that they would stay at a hotel if it proactively provided information on the steps it takes to prevent bed buginfestations. Making this information readily available and responding to online reviews to improve hotel conditions could go a long way towards gaining consumer trust.

"Hotels and others in the hospitality sector should develop a reputation management plan to prudently respond to online reports of bed bugs in their facility, said senior author Dr. Wuyang Hu.

Hotels should also train their housekeeping and engineering staffs to recognize and report bed bugs in the earliest possible stages, when infestations are more manageable. Similarly important is training front desk and customer service employees to respond promptly and empathetically when incidents arise within the hotel.

The teams full study has been published in the journal American Entomologist.

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Most consumers can't identify bed bugs, survey finds - ConsumerAffairs

Waking up several times during the night with itchy skin, Mr and Mrs E (whose names have been withheld) have not had a good nights sleep in almost a year. They have tried everything from tossing out their belongings including bedding replacing the wooden bed with a metal-framed one, and flea bombing their subdivided apartment numerous times. But they still cant get rid of their unwanted intruders, bed bugs.

Watch Hong Kong is Disneyland for bed bugs video

Theyre getting desperate, because Mrs E is pregnant and due to give birth any day. On a visit to their cramped apartment in Cheung Sha Wan with Francisco Pazos, head technician of pest control company nobedbugs-hk.com, Pazos lifts the blanket and immediately sees the small dark insects crawling on the bed. Many more appear as he moves the mattress.

Judging by the amount of droppings, Pazos estimates there are more than a million bed bugs in the apartment, and classifies the case as an extreme infestation. The neighbouring apartments are likely to be crawling in them, he says.

Bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus) feed on blood, are arguably the most irritating household pests, and are indiscriminate lodgers. They can be found in all types of homes, clean or dirty, big or small.

Pazos next takes us to a luxurious, 3,700 sq ft Mid-Levels flat. One of two domestic helpers suspects the critters hitchhiked to Hong Kong with her employer when he returned from a trip to the mainland. The parasites have since spread to all of the bedrooms.

Bed bug infestations are on the rise - and the pests are hard to kill

Hong Kong is on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic, Pazos warns. There are only two types of households in Hong Kong: those who have bed bugs and those who will have bed bugs.

The Spanish expert, who has dealt with the pests for more than 10 years, says the city is a Disneyland for bed bugs because the high population density and small, cluttered homes are perfect breeding conditions. Seams of mattresses, crevices in furniture and cracks between floorboards are all ideal hiding places for bed bugs.

Pazo says his team receives more than 500 phone enquiries a month. They visit some districts more frequently, such as Tung Chung and Ho Man Tin, but Pazos says this is not a reflection of how severe the problem is in these areas. Rather, middle-class families in these neighbourhoods are more likely to have the financial means to pay for treatment. The cost ranges from HK$1,500 to HK$18,000, depending on the type of treatment, size of the home and the level of infestation.

The resurgence of bed bugs is a worldwide problem. They were almost wiped out in the 1960s through use of the pesticide DDT. The pesticide was later found to have wide-ranging harmful effects, and was banned worldwide in 2001 under the Stockholm Convention. Since then, the critters have made a comeback.

We experienced a sudden reappearance around 2000, followed by rapid population growth, mirrored across most of Europe, the US, Canada and Australia, says Dr Richard Naylor, an entomologist from University of Sheffield, in northern England, who studies the bloodsuckers behaviour.

One theory about the spread of bed bugs in Hong Kong is that they are imported from the mainland, where migrant workers dormitories and trains have spread the pest rapidly across the country. Shenzhen has a large immigrant population and many factory dorms, where bed bug infestations are often reported. Considering its vicinity to Hong Kong, the risk of bed bugs spreading from Shenzhen to Hong Kong is high, says Dr Changlu Wang, an entomologist from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

New York, with a population density comparable to Hong Kongs, suffered a mass infestation in 2010, when bedbugs were reported in hotels, shops and cinemas. City authorities had received more than 8,000 complaints in 2008 alone.

Sleeping in McDonalds better than in a bug-infested bed at home, says Hong Kong McSleeper

Statistics on the number of homes affected are difficult to obtain because many sufferers are too embarrassed to report the problem. There is a stigma surrounding bed bugs. People believe that they are associated with dirty places, which isnt true. But because of this, people tend not to talk about the problem, Naylor says.

Some people may be aware of the problem because not everyone reacts to their bite.

Cheung (who didnt want her full name revealed) took her eight-year-old son to two doctors when he developed rashes on his skin. One doctor laughed off the suggestion the rash could have been caused by insect bites.

Our youngest son was being eaten alive and was misdiagnosed by two different doctors, who put him on antihistamines for several weeks, Cheung says. The drugs made him drowsy but his rashes just got worse. The cause was only discovered after another of Cheungs sons got rashes from bites, and they did some online research.

The easiest way to tell if you have a bed bug problem is by looking for droppings pin head sized black dots normally found on bedsheets, Pazos says. Another way is to blow hot air from a hairdryer into the corners of a wooden bed, which will flush them out. They are typically brown and flat, and up to 4.5mm long.

Bed bugs possess many qualities that make them hard to get rid of. Containing an infestation is notoriously difficult due to how quickly they grow and reproduce. An adult female bed bug can lay about 25 eggs a week. The life cycle from egg to adult takes about six weeks, which means if a single female bug finds its way into your bed, it can keep on laying fertile eggs, and by the time its ready to mate again, its own offspring will be reaching maturity, Naylor says.

This ability to inbreed means they can mutate, and produce stronger detoxifying enzymes that can break down insecticides. They can grow a thicker protective exterior that prevents insecticides from harming them.

Modern populations of bed bugs now have widespread resistance to every major class of insecticide, Naylor says. So its not surprising that people are struggling to control the insects using conventional insecticides.

Most of Pazos clients have already tried terminating bedbugs with flea bombs or by employing pest control companies, to no avail. [Flea bombing] is the worst thing you can do, Pazos says. They feel uncomfortable and will stop feeding for a night or two, but they will come back when they are hungry. It only makes them more difficult to kill because they hide deeper inside the walls.

Pazos has found another way of combating bed bugs that he says has been particularly effective. He uses an amorphous silicon gel powder, which he dusts on every surfaces of an infected apartment, and kills the insects by dehydrating them. It is completely harmless, he says. To prove his point, a colleague dips his finger in the powder and slips it in his mouth. (Not all types of silicon gel are non-toxic, Pazos stresses.)

Another, more expensive, method, is to raise the temperature of an apartment up to 60 degrees, which Pazos can do using special equipment. It is almost like a sauna, he says. Bedbugs die when the temperature reaches about 48 degrees, but Pazos maintains the heat for three hours so it penetrates walls, furniture and mattresses.

Pasoz shows how the heat treatment works, on a visit the cluttered flat of an elderly couple in Shau Kei Wan. It was one of the worst cases he had seen. When he first visited, the bed bugs, which are normally inactive in daylight, were crawling on the floor. The elderly man, who suffered the most, had thrown out the mattress and was sleeping on plastic sheets to prevent bites.

I wanted to cry seeing how my old man suffered, his wife says.

Its been five weeks since Pazos and his team first visited the flat. They have since done one heat treatment and applied the silicon dust three times. Like a detective on the hunt for evidence, Pazos lifts up the wooden bed panel and, bingo, he finds fresh bedbug droppings.

Despite rounds of chemical warfare and turning up the heat, Pazos job is not yet done.

Tips to deal with bed bugs

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Is Hong Kong on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic? We talk to the experts and get some tips - South China Morning Post