Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles...

From The TimesAugust 26, 2008

Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4608113.ece


"Britons returning from their Bank Holiday break today may find they are not
travelling alone, with research uncovered by The Times showing that there is
an increase in the number of bedbugs sharing our trains, buses, planes and
coaches.

Rentokil, Britain's biggest pest control company, has seen a 40 per cent
rise in the number of transport-related call-outs in the past year, with
more than two thirds of infestations on public and private transport
concerning bedbugs.

The remainder are mostly biting insects, including fleas from cats and dogs.
Cruise ships are having to deal with rats and cockroaches.

Bedbugs thrive in small spaces and are commonly found in the creases of
seats and seat-belt fastenings on buses, trains and aircraft. They have also
been discovered in luggage holds where they hop from bag to bag, looking for
a suitable place to settle

Although the effects of their bite are rarely severe, they are irritating,
unpleasant and in extreme cases, where the bedbug feeds on the host's blood
for a long time, can result in anaemia.

Savvas Othon, technical director at Rentokil, said: "The short turnaround
times for planes and other forms of transport means they are sometimes not
inspected as thoroughly as they used to be. What should happen is a good
vacuum around the back of seats and in the creases of seats. Any small gap
is ideal for a bedbug, which can go for quite some time without a meal."

A rise in the number of people travelling, more use of cheap modes of
transport and an increasingly mobile population have all contributed to the
proliferation of bedbugs.

Rentokil says that it has seen a 24 per cent increase in work related to
airlines, a 51 per cent increase in road-related call-outs, a 59 per cent
jump in the shipping sector and a 9 per cent rise on rail in the past 12
months, compared with the year before.

"Bedbug infestations will continue to rise," Mr Othon said. "Delays at
airports don't help as people sit in airport terminals, take things out of
their bags and the bedbug jumps out and goes in search of another source of
blood."

David Cain, managing director of Bed-Bugs.co.uk, a dedicated bedbug
obliteration service, said he was not surprised by the prevalence of bedbugs
in transport upholstery and baggage areas.

He said: "The number one reason for the spread of bedbugs is the lack of
public awareness. People simply do not know how to detect them in the way
they would have done in the 1950s and 1960s.

"They are a problem on buses, trains and subway systems, and on cruise ships
too - any form of transport where there is a high turnover, really.
Recently, on an overground train in South London, I pulled at the parting of
the upholstery and found at least four months of dirt and debris."

Adult bedbugs, Cimex lectularius, once confined to cramped, insanitary
living conditions, are about a quarter of an inch long and are easily seen
with the naked eye. Light tan in colour, the wingless bug swells in size and
turns reddish brown after feeding on blood.

While some people do not react to bedbug bites, to the majority they are
intensely itchy with a pale or white centre. It can range from a red
swelling about the size of a 1p piece to 10 cm (almost 4 in) in diameter.

Klaus Reinhardt, an entomology specialist at the University of Sheffield,
said: "Some will display red swellings, others more systemic inflammatory
responses like a swollen arm. In rarer cases some individuals might
experience a bullous eruption, which is a liquid-filled bubble."

/

On Aug 25, 9:09*pm, "Gregory Morrow"
wrote:
From The TimesAugust 26, 2008

Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4608113.ece

"Britons returning from their Bank Holiday break today may find they are not
travelling alone, with research uncovered by The Times showing that there is
an increase in the number of bedbugs sharing our trains, buses, planes and
coaches.

Rentokil, Britain's biggest pest control company, has seen a 40 per cent
rise in the number of transport-related call-outs in the past year, with
more than two thirds of infestations on public and private transport
concerning bedbugs.

The remainder are mostly biting insects, including fleas from cats and dogs.
Cruise ships are having to deal with rats and cockroaches.

Bedbugs thrive in small spaces and are commonly found in the creases of
seats and seat-belt fastenings on buses, trains and aircraft. They have also
been discovered in luggage holds where they hop from bag to bag, looking for
a suitable place to settle

Although the effects of their bite are rarely severe, they are irritating,
unpleasant and in extreme cases, where the bedbug feeds on the host's blood
for a long time, can result in anaemia.

Savvas Othon, technical director at Rentokil, said: "The short turnaround
times for planes and other forms of transport means they are sometimes not
inspected as thoroughly as they used to be. What should happen is a good
vacuum around the back of seats and in the creases of seats. Any small gap
is ideal for a bedbug, which can go for quite some time without a meal."

A rise in the number of people travelling, more use of cheap modes of
transport and an increasingly mobile population have all contributed to the
proliferation of bedbugs.

Rentokil says that it has seen a 24 per cent increase in work related to
airlines, a 51 per cent increase in road-related call-outs, a 59 per cent
jump in the shipping sector and a 9 per cent rise on rail in the past 12
months, compared with the year before.

"Bedbug infestations will continue to rise," Mr Othon said. "Delays at
airports don't help as people sit in airport terminals, take things out of
their bags and the bedbug jumps out and goes in search of another source of
blood."

David Cain, managing director of Bed-Bugs.co.uk, a dedicated bedbug
obliteration service, said he was not surprised by the prevalence of bedbugs
in transport upholstery and baggage areas.

He said: "The number one reason for the spread of bedbugs is the lack of
public awareness. People simply do not know how to detect them in the way
they would have done in the 1950s and 1960s.

"They are a problem on buses, trains and subway systems, and on cruise ships
too - any form of transport where there is a high turnover, really.
Recently, on an overground train in South London, I pulled at the parting of
the upholstery and found at least four months of dirt and debris."

Adult bedbugs, Cimex lectularius, once confined to cramped, insanitary
living conditions, are about a quarter of an inch long and are easily seen
with the naked eye. Light tan in colour, the wingless bug swells in size and
turns reddish brown after feeding on blood.

While some people do not react to bedbug bites, to the majority they are
intensely itchy with a pale or white centre. It can range from a red
swelling about the size of a 1p piece to 10 cm (almost 4 in) in diameter.

Klaus Reinhardt, an entomology specialist at the University of Sheffield,
said: "Some will display red swellings, others more systemic inflammatory
responses like a swollen arm. In rarer cases some individuals might
experience a bullous eruption, which is a liquid-filled bubble."

/

There was a story in the newspaper about a major rental furniture
company being sued for a customer's bed bugs, which were seemingly
impossible to get rid.

Anybody in the world seeing this who has a "bed bug" antidote...I'd
like to know it

Apparently, the micro-boogers adapt, hide and thrive in nooks and
crannies.

So, despite bug spray, Avon "stay so soft" (whatever it 's name), etal
they SUPPOSEDLY can't be easily eliminated

The person who invents or discovers how to eliminate 'em could
get ....a civilian congressional medal and/or wealthy

The furniture rental company apparently tried in futility

I dunno how the lawsuit came out

meanwhile: a list of possibile and off the wall antidotes

tobacco juice
tobasco saucejust kidding
laser
make the room cold as ice and/or warm as helle, and shut the door 24
hours
spray that stuff that was outlawed years ago after Rachel Carson's
bookj: DDT: "drop dead twice"
ask Sierra Wilderness Environmentalist Club for emergency consultation
extension agent
wd-40 and duct tape
those electronic wave things that probably don't really work but what
the hay this is a plague thing
nukes
lysol or generic eqivalent
mattress freshner
sun light
delightful smelly gasolene
"insecticide" that's what we used to call it
frogs
birds
hungry kitty
borrow anteater from zoo

On Aug 25, 10:01*pm, Robert Cohen wrote:
On Aug 25, 9:09*pm, "Gregory Morrow"





wrote:
From The TimesAugust 26, 2008

Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4608113.ece

"Britons returning from their Bank Holiday break today may find they are not
travelling alone, with research uncovered by The Times showing that there is
an increase in the number of bedbugs sharing our trains, buses, planes and
coaches.

Rentokil, Britain's biggest pest control company, has seen a 40 per cent
rise in the number of transport-related call-outs in the past year, with
more than two thirds of infestations on public and private transport
concerning bedbugs.

The remainder are mostly biting insects, including fleas from cats and dogs.
Cruise ships are having to deal with rats and cockroaches.

Bedbugs thrive in small spaces and are commonly found in the creases of
seats and seat-belt fastenings on buses, trains and aircraft. They have also
been discovered in luggage holds where they hop from bag to bag, looking for
a suitable place to settle

Although the effects of their bite are rarely severe, they are irritating,
unpleasant and in extreme cases, where the bedbug feeds on the host's blood
for a long time, can result in anaemia.

Savvas Othon, technical director at Rentokil, said: "The short turnaround
times for planes and other forms of transport means they are sometimes not
inspected as thoroughly as they used to be. What should happen is a good
vacuum around the back of seats and in the creases of seats. Any small gap
is ideal for a bedbug, which can go for quite some time without a meal."

A rise in the number of people travelling, more use of cheap modes of
transport and an increasingly mobile population have all contributed to the
proliferation of bedbugs.

Rentokil says that it has seen a 24 per cent increase in work related to
airlines, a 51 per cent increase in road-related call-outs, a 59 per cent
jump in the shipping sector and a 9 per cent rise on rail in the past 12
months, compared with the year before.

"Bedbug infestations will continue to rise," Mr Othon said. "Delays at
airports don't help as people sit in airport terminals, take things out of
their bags and the bedbug jumps out and goes in search of another source of
blood."

David Cain, managing director of Bed-Bugs.co.uk, a dedicated bedbug
obliteration service, said he was not surprised by the prevalence of bedbugs
in transport upholstery and baggage areas.

He said: "The number one reason for the spread of bedbugs is the lack of
public awareness. People simply do not know how to detect them in the way
they would have done in the 1950s and 1960s.

"They are a problem on buses, trains and subway systems, and on cruise ships
too - any form of transport where there is a high turnover, really.
Recently, on an overground train in South London, I pulled at the parting of
the upholstery and found at least four months of dirt and debris."

Adult bedbugs, Cimex lectularius, once confined to cramped, insanitary
living conditions, are about a quarter of an inch long and are easily seen
with the naked eye. Light tan in colour, the wingless bug swells in size and
turns reddish brown after feeding on blood.

While some people do not react to bedbug bites, to the majority they are
intensely itchy with a pale or white centre. It can range from a red
swelling about the size of a 1p piece to 10 cm (almost 4 in) in diameter.

Larry in AZ wrote:
Waiving the right to remain silent, "Gregory Morrow"
said:

From The TimesAugust 26, 2008

Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4608113.ece

Will the airlines begin to charge extra if you're caught transporting
bedbugs..?

How about Customs?

On Aug 26, 3:14*pm, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:
Larry in AZ wrote:
Waiving the right to remain silent, "Gregory Morrow"
said:

From The TimesAugust 26, 2008

Bedbugs thrive thanks to our busy lifestyles

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4608113.ece

Will the airlines begin to charge extra if you're caught transporting
bedbugs..?

How about Customs?



- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

clearing customs to get home to infest

If to the satisfaction of the officer that the bedbug's accent ain't
foreign, then no (night) sweat.