The Perfect Storm: An Extension View on Bed Bugs
Published Apr 1, 2006 · M. F. Potter
American Entomologist
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Citations
6
Influential Citations
Abstract
1). Infestations occur in such intimate places as beds and bedrooms, where pest control firms are uncomfortable applying pesticides for fear of reprisal. Recent cancellation of most indoor organophosphate and carbamate insecticide usage has depleted the arsenal of effective bed bug products; and of those remaining products (principally pyrethroids), the prospect for resistance is worrisome. Another stormy issue is litigation. When people were bitten by bed bugs years ago, it was just another of life’s annoyances. Public tolerance for bed bug bites today is almost zero, and lawsuits are becoming common (Donaldson 2006). Bed bug infestation in the United States is increasing at an alarming rate. Some pest control firms have reported 10-fold increases in bed bug treatments in recent years (See R. Cooper’s article in this Instant Symposium). At the University of Kentucky, we have responded to hundreds of bed bug incidents since 2003, whereas before then, we encountered almost none. In 1998, when infestations nationwide were first being reported, our bed bug extension article listed in Google received 1,312 total hits; in 2005, the Webbased publication received more than 350,000 hits, and in 2006 will likely exceed 1,000,000. Especially common in hotels and apartments, bed bugs also are appearing in single-family homes, health care and assisted-living facilities, college dormitories, churches, hostels, laundries, used furniture outlets, and various modes of transport. In Europe in the late 1930s, 47% of inspected moving vans were infested with bed bugs, foretelling concerns for items in transit and storage (Hartnack 1939). If history repeats itself, the bugs also will resurface in dressing rooms and movie theaters. Bed bugs have been newsworthy subjects in recent months, far outpacing media interest in mosquitoes and West Nile Virus (Fig. 2). In the past year alone, bed bugs were front-page news in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today; and they were featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Dateline NBC. After a 50-yr virtual absence, the bugs have come back in a hurry and prospects for effective management are not encouraging. The Perfect Storm: An Extension View on Bed Bugs