"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://nypost.com/2016/11/27/jazz-musician-claims-landlord-planted-bedbugs-in-his-apt/

Jazz musician claims landlord planted bedbugs in his apt
By Dean Balsamini
November 27, 2016 | 12:28pm | Updated

jazz.jpg

Wilbert Perry
Photo: Helayne Seidman


An elderly Manhattan jazz musician believes his landlord is trying to drum him out of his rent-controlled East Village apartment.

Wilbert Perry, 79, pays $380 a month for an East 10th Street pad where market-rate rents are $4,000. :eek: He’s lived there for 37 years.

He said in February his landlord requested access to his third-floor walk-up to install a new refrigerator. A building worker delivering the appliance noticed a crack in the kitchen ceiling, and told Perry it would need to be repaired immediately.

Perry told The Post that the repairmen left a gaping 6-by-10-foot hole in the ceiling overnight. Weeks later, Perry noticed his cat trying to “pull its fur out” because of bedbugs. Perry is convinced the bugs came from the ceiling.

Perry said he reported the problem to the building super in September and was told the railroad apartment needed to be fumigated. Prior to leaving the apartment, Perry said he was told to “bag up” his valuables and leave them in the kitchen.

When he returned three days later, he was shocked to find that all his belongings had been tossed, save for some clothes that were sent to the cleaners.

“This was done with a complete disregard for my rights as a tenant and respect for me as a human being,” Perry said.

The tenor sax player, who rubbed shoulders with the likes of Miles Davis, believes the series of events was a campaign of “harassment” designed to get him to move.

Perry said his landlord even offered to buy him a house in Florida or Detroit and pay him $1,000 a month for life.

The musician said the offer struck a sour note with him because the landlord figured he probably didn’t have long to live.

“They were calculating my life!” an incredulous Perry told The Post. “I told him, ‘I may fool you!’”

Perry wants to be reimbursed $10,000 for “everything they took,” including a laptop, his bed, desk, couch, bathroom and kitchen possessions, mementos — including African-American garb he donned for a role in a small film — astrology books, a charcoal sketch and his Lehman College degree.

He filed a police report at the 9th Precinct stationhouse Oct. 3.

landlord.jpg

Robert Perl
Photo: Helayne Seidman


But Perry’s landlord, Robert Perl, denied any harassment, and said, “This is maybe one of the most perfect examples of no good deed goes unpunished.

“We have done so much to try and help Mr. Perry. Not just now, but through the years. He’s a good man, he doesn’t have much money, so we’ve bent over backwards to try and help him. The apartment was in very bad shape. We’ve treated the man with respect. But he had a bedbug infestation.”

He called Perry’s $10,000 pricetag “nonsense,” saying Perry knew what was being discarded and that “much of the items could be classified as garbage.”

Perl, who believes Perry created the bedbug problem :rolleyes:, admitted he offered Perry a deal to move elsewhere, but said the jazz musician can stay in the East Village apartment “as long as he likes.”

“Not all landlords are scumbags,” Perl said.

The landlord said he is willing to discuss a settlement.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/01/03/philly-ranked-9th-worst-city-for-bed-bugs/

Philly Ranked 9th Worst City For Bed Bugs
January 3, 2017 10:55 PM

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Here’s something that will make your skin crawl — Philadelphia has been ranked the ninth worst city for bed bugs.

Pest-control company, Orkin compiled a list of the 50 worst U.S. cities for bed bugs. They came up with the ranking based on the number of bed bug treatments Orkin performed on homes and commercial buildings in metro areas between December 2015 and November 2016.

Experts say the pests are a growing issue.

“We have more people affected by bed bugs in the United States now than ever before,” Orkin Entomologist, Ron Harrison said in press release. “They were virtually unheard of in the U.S. 10 years ago.”

In the statement, Harrison also tried to clear up misconceptions about the pests, explaining the bugs are not a sign of uncleanliness and that the bugs can be anywhere — from movie theaters to public transportation — not just in people’s beds.

According to Orkin, bed bug treatments have been performed in all 50 states, but fortunate for New Jersey and Delaware residents, none of their cities made the “worst” list.

Pennsylvania didn’t get so lucky — Pittsburgh was underneath Philly at #24.

Baltimore nabbed the #1 spot, moving up nine spots since last year. Unfortunately this is one contest you don’t want to win.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://www.eveningsun.com/story/new...rea-caretaker-charged-bed-bug-death/98379006/

Hanover-area caretaker charged in bed bug death
Gordon Rago , grago@ydr.com
Published 9:32 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2017 | Updated 7 hours ago

Last February, West Manheim Township Police entered a home on Baltimore Pike and one of the first things they noticed were the bed bugs.

The pests were seen on walls and along ledges. They scurried on the bed sheets and pillow where an elderly woman slept in a first floor room. That woman, police said, told officers she was blind, but could "feel them crawling."

Sometimes, she said, the bugs bit her, too.

EMS would later check on that woman, but did not notice any visible injuries, police said.

But, according to police, there was a second woman who was living at the home, too. Both had been staying there under the care of the home's owner, Deborah Butler, who had previously run a licensed home care facility, Luckenbaugh Personal Care Home.

Butler, 72, closed that business a few years ago, and the women had stayed with her at her own home, police said. Butler provided food, shelter, clothing as well as personal and health care. Both women paid for the care services, documents state.

Two weeks after police visited Butler's house for the first time, that second woman, Mary Stoner, 96, died at York Hospital. An autopsy determined that her cause of death was from "complications of sepsis following a bed bug infestation," according to charging documents.

Felony charges were filed against Butler earlier this week. She faces neglect of care, a first-degree felony, as well as involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor.

According to police, Stoner was brought to the emergency room at York Hospital on Feb. 6, 2016. She had sores on her skin and staff there was under the opinion that Stoner's infection was a result of bed bug bites, police said.

Stoner's family moved her out of Butler's home on Feb. 3 after noticing her health worsen. During previous visits, family told police Stoner was in good health.

Stoner was discharged from the hospital about a week later, only to be readmitted again. Doctors said she had pneumonia.

A week later she died.

In talking with police prior to Stoner's death, Butler told them she had been trying to get rid of the bed bugs since September 2015 and had used store-bought supplies. She said she could not afford an exterminator and blamed Stoner for bringing in the bugs, documents state.

Butler had taken Stoner to her family doctor in January because Stoner had been scratching her neck and been sick. Butler did not mention bed bugs during the doctor's appointment, police said, and Stoner didn't mention them either.

In the coming weeks, Butler said she noticed no change in Stoner's condition. But police said "evidence later indicated that the victim's condition would have been clearly visible and obvious that serious medical attention was required."

Stoner received no further medical treatment until her family took her to York Hospital in February.

In the week after Stoner's death, police executed a search warrant of Butler's home. York County Forensic Team collected evidence and photographed the home, documents state.

Bed bugs were seen in various stages of their life cycle, police wrote in charging documents.

Butler appeared for a preliminary arraignment on Thursday before District Judge James S. Miner. Unsecured bail was set at $50,000, meaning she was free to go. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled March 9.

Attempts to reach Butler were unsuccessful Friday night.

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services annual reports on personal care homes show no violations at Luckenbaugh Personal Care Home between 2008-2011, the only years for which reports that list individual homes' violations are online.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://www.livescience.com/14107-bedbug-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria.html

Bad Gets Worse: Bedbugs May Bring Superbug to Bed

By*Jennifer Welsh*

[Bedbugs are suspected of transmitting infectious agents, but no report has yet demonstrated that .... for transmission by bedbugs, such as Coxiella burnetii and Wolbachia spp among bacteria]

Itchy bites and tossed-out mattresses may not be the only things to worry about during a bedbug infestation. Researchers have found that the tiny bloodsuckers can also harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

"The findings from the study are by no means conclusive," said study researcher Marc Romney, of St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. "They suggest that bedbugs, which were primarily just a nuisance before, may be*able to transmit diseases."

Romney and his colleagues studied five bedbugs from three patients at a Vancouver hospital. Bugs from two patients carried the antibiotic-resistant bacteriaEnterococcus faeium, referred to as VRE, because the last line of defense for treating this bug was the antibiotic vancomycin, which the bacteria have now become resistant to.

Three bedbugs collected from the other patient tested positive for the superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus), which is also resistant to antibiotics.

The MRSA strain found on the bedbugs was USA300, a virulent strain associated with skin and soft tissue infections. It's been*found almost everywhere, from cell phones to money and even along beaches. These bugs are usually*associated with hospitals, where they are transmitted through contact between health professionals and patients, though the bacteria need to get into a person's skin to cause disease.

"MRSA infections usually require a break in the skin, and bedbugs do bite, so they could transmit infections theoretically," Romney said. "These bedbugs could carry the organism from one human to another."

The researchers don't know if the patients had already been exposed to the bacteria and transferred it to the bedbugs, or if the bedbugs brought the bacteria with them before hitching a ride to the hospital on the patient. [Bedbugs: The Life of a Mini-Monster (Infographic)]

"As closely as bedbugs reside in human domestic spaces, it's not surprising that they would acquire human pathogens such as MRSA and VRE," Richard Oehler, a researcher at the University of South Florida who wasn't involved in the study, said in an email to LiveScience. "This may potentially affect all ectoparasites (including fleas and ticks, etc), but there is not much in the literature."

The patients came from an impoverished part of the city, where MRSA infections and*bedbugs are blooming. Both the bacteria and the bedbugs may lurk in these low-hygiene locations, which could have skewed the findings, Oehler said, though this is the first study to find that a bedbug can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The study was published today (May 11) in the Center for Disease Control journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The researchers note that since the results are based on such a small sample of bugs, the findings will need to be reproduced in larger studies.

606 AM chronos
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://nypost.com/2017/04/24/landlords-furious-over-possible-bedbug-disclosure-law/

Landlords furious over possible bedbug disclosure law
By Michael Gartland
April 24, 2017 | 10:59pm

Landlords are furious over a new bill that would require them to make bedbug infestations public.

The bill, which is expected to be approved by the City Council Tuesday, would force landlords to file infestation histories with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and to either publicly post histories in buildings or distribute them to tenants.

The city agency would also have to post the information on its site.

“This bill will needlessly alarm tenants that would otherwise not have to be concerned or be worried about an infestation in their building,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords.

“This bill is just more regulation overkill.”

Strasburg noted that building owners are already required under state law to notify new tenants of an apartment’s bedbug history.

But the council bill aims to do more.

It would require landlords to notify tenants not only when a new lease is signed, but for lease renewals as well.

The bill’s sponsor, Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Queens), said he introduced it two years ago after numerous complaints.

“What we were finding out was that a number of the people were [on] renewal leases,” he said. “So what we wanted to do was to fix it so that those who have renewal leases could also find out whether there were bedbugs in their building.”

Landlords would not be required to specify which apartments are or have been infested, but would have to report the number of units with a history of bedbugs.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://nypost.com/2017/07/07/the-building-management-used-me-as-bedbug-bait-suit/

The building management used me as bedbug ‘bait’: suit
By Ross Toback
July 7, 2017 | 9:59pm

A Bronx woman is bugging out, claiming her building’s exterminators told her to stay in her apartment as bedbug “bait” after her apartment was sprayed for the pests, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

Dana Alonzo filed a suit against her building and its management company Thursday on behalf of herself and her infant son, alleging that the building told her “that they should not vacate the apartment after the eradication attempt because [Alonzo’s] presence in the apartment was necessary to bait the bedbugs into the apartment,” the court papers state.

Alonzo’s spouse stayed as bait but it was to no avail. She claims the bedbugs remained in the apartment after the treatment *using chemical spray.

She initially discovered the pests by examining her infant son, who had red marks as a result of the infestations, according to the court papers. Alonzo alleges her son now has “permanent scars.”

The court filing argues that *using chemical spray on bedbugs is not effective.

“[Alonzo] suffered substantial financial cost, including but not limited [to] medical bills, laundry and cleaning bills, moving bills and the cost of replacing furniture that was infected with bedbugs and could not be brought to the new apartment without transferring the infestation,” papers state.

Alonzo is suing for unspecific damages. She and her attorney *declined to comment.

“We stand by our long track rec*ord of resolving resident inquiries made by our residents quickly and professionally, and the issue that is the subject of this baseless lawsuit is no exception,” a spokesperson for the building’s owner said.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://nypost.com/2017/11/06/dad-nearly-kills-3-year-old-daughter-trying-to-get-rid-of-bed-bugs/

Dad nearly kills 3-year-old daughter trying to get rid of bed bugs
By Tina Moore and Daniel Prendergast
November 6, 2017 | 12:09pm

A 3-year-old girl is fighting for her life after eating rat poison that her dad put out in the family’s Bronx apartment, police sources said.

The little girl has been in intensive care since Oct. 24, when her father took her to Jacobi Medical Center with vomiting and other severe flu-like symptoms.

Doctors determined the child may have eaten some of the rat poison and rushed her to Montefiore Hospital in critical condition

Police sources said the the man, his wife and their daughter had been admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms Oct. 22, shortly after the poison was laid by the girl’s father. He told doctors he thought the poison would combat a bed bug infestation in their home, sources said.

The family was released, but the father rushed the little girl back to Montefiore two days later when her health took a turn for the worse.

She is still in ICU at that hospital, police sources said.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...ld-be-game-changer-in-fight-against-bed-bugs/

New Treatment Could Be Game Changer In Fight Against Bed Bugs
By Mike Dougherty
December 12, 2017 at 10:08 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Experts estimate about 10 percent of households in Philadelphia have bed bugs, and a workshop in Center City Tuesday night gave residents information on how to get rid of the pests.

The first thing you should know is that pesticides and chemicals found in stores are unlikely to work.

The bugs have developed immunity, according to pest management specialist Dion Lerman.

“We recommend using encasements and monitors under your bed,” he said.

The monitors are little plastic discs installed under your bedposts that traps the bugs.

Lerman says they are less than $5 a piece and are incredibly effective.

Mary from North Philadelphia will be picking up a few to get rid of her unwelcome guests.

“I’m surprised that I don’t see an avalanche of them prancing around the house,” he said.

There is no easy way to eradicate bed bugs, but researchers from Penn State developed a fungus that kills the pests and isn’t harmful to humans.

“In lab trials, it’s been tremendously effective,” he said.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://nypost.com/2018/02/09/landlord-forced-to-pay-tenant-300k-for-bedbugs-infestation/

Landlord forced to pay tenant $300K for bedbugs infestation
By Amanda Woods
February 9, 2018 | 4:08pm

The whole city will be itching for payouts like this.

A Bushwick tenant scored a fat $300,000 judgment against his landlord over a bed bug infestation — because the owner ignored repeated requests to help him get rid of the creepy crawlers, his lawyer said Friday.

Luis Cotto filed the suit on Jan. 23 against his landlord, Gouramety Jackson — claiming that there had been a bed bug problem in his apartment on Willoughby Avenue near Evergreen Avenue since August of 2015.

He alleged that Jackson had failed to fix the problem, despite a series of complaints.

Cotto claimed that he had suffered “severe and permanent damage to his skin” as a result of the bug bites.

The settlement is one of the state’s highest ever in a bed bugs case, said his lawyer, Bruce Barron.

The lawyer said in a statement that landlords city- and state-wide have something to learn from this case.

“This sends a clear message to landlords throughout the state,” Barron said. “Don’t neglect your legal and moral obligation to protect occupants on your property from physical harm, or be held responsible.”

Jackson and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...ngers-Covered-in-Bed-Bud-Bites-489117131.html

Air India Flight From Newark to Mumbai Leaves Passengers Covered in Bed Bug Bites
One passenger tweeted a photo that reveals large bug bites on her arm
By Scott Gelman
Published 3 hours ago

072518bedbugs.jpg

Saumya Shetty


A flyer reveals multiple bug bites. Several passengers on an Air India flight from Newark to Mumbai said the plane was infested with bed bugs.

Passengers flying from Newark Liberty International Airport to Mumbai on an Air India flight last week said in a series of tweets that the plane was infested with bed bugs, leaving the travelers with bites across their bodies.

Air India responded to customer complaints in a statement, and the airline plans to temporarily ground flights between Newark and Mumbai, according to The Independent.

“Experienced experts have carried out extensive service on the aircraft from fumigation to overhaul of the upholstery/ seat covers/carpets etc to ensure that passengers keep enjoying their in-flight experience with us as always without any complaint of inconvenience,” the airline said in a statement to NBC News.

New Zealand news outlet Stuff reported that a passenger surveyed the area around the seats after her daughter complained of a rash. The woman reportedly noticed a bed bug on her husband’s seat before takeoff but dismissed it.

The passengers who tweeted about the incident said they were sitting in business class. One-way adult ticket prices on the route exceed $1,000, according to Air India’s website.

Turban Top Pravin Tonsekar posted pictures of the bugs on Air India flight 144 on Twitter.

Street-shi tter Saumya Shetty posted an image of multiple large bites on her arm and wrote in a tweet “AI still has to get in touch with me [sic] inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them.”

Another Twitter user said his wife and three kids were sitting in business class and had bed bug bites “all over their body” after paying more than $10,000 for the flight tickets.

"Air India is deeply concerned with a few reports of "bugs" causing inconvenience to its esteemed passengers,” the airline said. “The issue has been viewed seriously and every possible step is being taken to closely inspect and further strengthen our system at every level to ensure that such isolated incidents of passenger discomfiture do not affect our consistent performance.”

Bed bugs aren’t known to spread diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but their bites can create swelling, itching and skin irritation.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/09/06/video-shows-alleged-bed-bugs-on-septa-bus-seat/

Video Shows Alleged Bed Bugs On SEPTA Bus Seat
September 6, 2018 at 12:36 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A video of what appears to be dozens of bed bugs on a SEPTA bus seat has gone viral.

The video recorded by Crystal Lopez shows the tiny bugs crawling on a bus seat.

Lopez says she was on a Route 26 bus on Tuesday when she saw the bugs. She tells CBS Philly she was with her two daughters, 11 and 3, when she felt the bugs biting her arm.

“So I would like to share with everyone what I experienced on the #26 #septabus yesterday this is disgusting this goes to show that septa is not clean you know how many people I’m sure took bed bugs home with them yesterday this is unacceptable I definitely made a complaint to the septa supervisor,” posted Lopez on Facebook.

Lopez says she suffered an allergic reaction as a result of the bites and had to go to the doctor.

She has since contacted SEPTA to report the incident and says she is waiting to hear back.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://nypost.com/2018/09/25/mta-pulls-some-buses-out-of-service-over-bed-bug-fears/

MTA pulls buses out of service over bed bug fears
By Danielle Furfaro and Natalie Musumeci
September 25, 2018 | 10:39am | Updated

ax185_562f_9.jpg

Robert Miller


Bedbugs may be onboard.

The MTA have yanked a half-dozen city buses off the road because they may be infested with the blood-sucking insects, officials said Tuesday.

The suspect vehicles were quarantined on the outskirts of the Kingsbridge Bus Depot in Manhattan after a rider reported seeing what appeared to be the parasitic bugs crawling on the seats, New York City Transit chief Andy Byford told The Post.

“A customer reported budbugs. We’ve quarantined six buses while we check it out,” he said. “It’s a difficult environment for bedbugs to endure. The important thing is to be responsive.”

He added, “It could happen anywhere. Could happen in the cinema, could happen in the theater. … Fumigation tackles the issue after the event.”

The MTA is, “not certain that they are bedbugs yet,” Byford added.
Union shop steward Michael Enriquez called the situation a possible epidemic.

“Usually, we would never see buses knocked out for bedbugs. It seems to be an epidemic that’s spreading,” Enriquez told WABC.

Enriquez added: “At one point in time our buses were regularly fumigated and there would be a sticker placed on the bus with a note that it was fumigated…This practice seems to have ceased for whatever reasons.”

It was not immediately clear which bus lines were affected.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://nypost.com/2019/02/09/sunda...d-by-bedbugs-in-hells-kitchen-apartment-suit/

Sundance filmmaker attacked by bedbugs in Hell’s Kitchen apartment: suit
By Shant Shahrigian
February 9, 2019 | 9:16pm

kyoko-miyake.jpg


She Sundanced with bedbugs.

As documentarian Kyoko Miyake readied for the storied Utah film fest, she and her husband were under attack by NYC’s most hated denizens, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

Miyake and her spouse Felix Matschke accuse their Hell’s Kitchen landlord and Knockout Pest Control of failing to stop “a dangerous, serious, and recurring bedbug infestation” in 2016 and 2017 that left them with “numerous bed bug bites all over their bodies” and forced them to destroy “all of [their] personal property.”

“They were visible on her. She had pretty bad bites,” their lawyer, Dimitrios Kourouklis, told The Post.

Still, Miyake managed to submit her film “Tokyo Idols,” about young Japanese pop singers, to Sundance’s documentary competition in 2017.

In 2014, she won a prestigious Peabody Award. Matschke was one of the producers for both movies.

Tri-Star Equities didn’t return a request for comment about the allegations at 705 Ninth Ave., where a studio goes for about $2,000 a month.

Knockout’s owner, Arthur Katz, said his company’s protocol is to service a home over multiple visits, but in Miyake’s case, “the tenant did not permit us to complete protocol.

“Once we finished the last service, we never received to date a complaint,” he added.

Katz said all the technicians who serviced Miyake’s home are state-certified.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...-pennsylvania-bed-bugs-epidemic-philadelphia/

‘It’s A Major Health Issue’: Bed Bug Epidemic More Prevalent In Philadelphia Than Most Realize
By Stephanie Stahl
March 4, 2019 at 6:52 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Bed bugs are more prevalent than many people realize. New research from the University of Pennsylvania highlights the importance of trying to eliminate infestations.

They’re in thousands of homes with bed bugs being called a public health treat. Now researchers from Penn say laws forcing disclosures about bed bugs could be an effective solution.

Would you want to sleep with these?

bed_bugs_1.jpg

(Credit: CBS3)


Here is the even creepier part – you could have bed bugs and not even know.

“They’re super good at hiding in your bed or around your bed,” said Michael Levy, associate professor of epidemiology at Penn. “Coming out at night and sucking blood and then running back and hiding again.”

That nightmarish scenario is played out in an estimated 11 percent of dwellings.

“It’s really a pervasive problem that we don’t like to talk about it very much,” Levy said, “but it’s causing a lot of pain and suffering for many individuals in the city.”

Levy and a team of epidemiologists at Penn studied the impact of trying to control bed bugs.

“It’s a major health issue, there’s no doubt about it,” Levy said. “Problems that can range from mental health issues to lack of sleep to even some allergies.”

There is also a danger with people using insecticides incorrectly to try to get rid of bed bugs.

Flu Vaccines Have Reduced Flu-Related Doctor’s Visits By 47 Percent, CDC Says

They can hide not just in beds but in any place where people sleep.

The Penn research found that forcing landlords to disclose infestations can go a long way toward eliminating them.

“If you have a proactive legislation that incentivizes landlords and everyone really to treat for bed bugs promptly, you can really decrease the number of bed bugs quickly,” Levy said.

The legislation is pending in Philadelphia City Council.

The Penn team says there could be an initial financial impact on landlords, but research shows a cost savings for them within five years.

“I really believe with some proactive legislation,” Levy said, “we can turn the tides on this epidemic and decrease the suffering that everyone in Philadelphia is experiencing from these little insects.”

New York City and San Francisco already have laws in place requiring landlords to disclose bed bugs.

Experts say the best way to eliminate bed bugs is with a professional exterminators following by careful cleaning, washing and vacuuming.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...ool-closed-thursday-due-to-bed-bug-treatment/

Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School Closed Thursday Due To Bed Bug Treatment
By CBS3 Staff
April 11, 2019 at 6:11 am

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Bed bugs have forced the closure of Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia. A parent tells Eyewitness News the school sent home letters alerting them that bed bugs had been found in both of the school’s buildings.

The letter also says exterminators fumigated the school Wednesday night and now the buildings need to remain empty for 24 hours.

CBS3 recently spoke with a team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania on fighting to control bed bugs.

“They’re not invisible. The adult bed bugs are probably about the size of a watermelon seed. They are super good at squinching :rolleyes: into little areas that are hard to get to,” said Michael Levy from the University of Pennsylvania.

School officials also said in the letter that they don’t know the source of the bed bugs, and probably never will since bed bugs can come from anywhere.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://nypost.com/2019/04/15/the-5th-ave-apple-store-has-been-crawling-with-bed-bugs/

The 5th Avenue Apple store is crawling with bed bugs
By Gabrielle Fonrouge
April 15, 2019 | 7:48pm | Updated April 16, 2019 | 6:40am

The famed Apple store on 5th Avenue isn’t just crawling with thousands of tourists– it’s also been crawling with bed bugs for nearly a month, The Post has learned.

5th-ave-apple-store-is-crawling-with-bed-bugs-1.jpg

Staff belongings wrapped in plastic on top of lockers in the store.


This past Friday, after weeks of bed bug sightings, a critter was spotted in the manager’s office, sending desperate employees into a frenzy, terrified they’d bring the pest home with them.

“It was just mayhem,” an employee told The Post.

“There was a mass exodus… employees were freaking out they felt really unsafe and management kept giving them the runaround.”

Staff were ordered to double bag their belongings in plastic while a “bed bug sniffing beagle” came to the store where it was “activated” by two lockers in a staff area.

“I shouldn’t have to go to work feeling unsafe and unprotected,” one worker told The Post.

“We felt very anxious, used and unimportant, like we were just another number.”

One worker said the issue has been going on for “nearly a month” and “Friday was the first day they acknowledged they found something.”

The employee said the issue started about three to four weeks ago during the overnight hours at the 24-hour store, which frequently has homeless visitors, when a table on the second floor was “cordoned off” because a bed bug was found, believed to have come from one of the homeless visitors.

The table was left cordoned off while employees and customers were allowed in the store and around the table with no warning of the bed bug threat, an employee said.

“No one could go to that table but it was still on the floor, if a customer leaned on it and they didn’t know” a bug could’ve crawled on them, the worker said.

While bed bugs can’t jump, they move from host to host by crawling, according to the pest management service Orkin.

Management brought an exterminator in and told employees there was no cause for concern until about a week and a half later, an overnight employee found a bed bug crawling on their sweater and took a video of it.

That video circulated across hundreds of staff members and once again, management brought in an exterminator who did some “preventative spraying,” employees said.

They remained in the dark until last week when the store, which is open 365 days a year and rarely shuts its doors, mysteriously closed for six hours during the overnight hours on a weekday for a “water leak,” an employee said.

“People came to work and didn’t even know the store was closed, there was no notice,” the worker said.

Since Friday’s incident, staff said they received calls from management over the weekend saying the threat was over and had been “isolated.”

Apple didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/06/03/philadelphia-terminix-beg-bugs/

Philadelphia Ranked No.1 Bed Bug-Infested City, Survey Finds
June 3, 2019 at 12:22 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphians are not going to be proud they are ranked at the top of this list. Terminix released its annual ranking of “Top 50 Bed Bug-Infested Cities” in the country ahead of summer vacation season and Beg Bug Awareness Week. Philadelphia reclaimed the No. 1 spot on the 2019 list, which it also held back in 2014.

Last year, Philadelphia was ranked second in the nation for most bed bugs.

Terminix based its rankings on the number of services rendered in each city in the past year.

New York landed No. 2 on the list and Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 3.

“Bed bugs continue to pose concerns for public health, as their presence is felt across the country, in cities large and small,” said Matthew Stevenson, president of Terminix Residential.

Terminix experts warn that bed bugs can be found in more than just bedding and mattresses.

They can also hitchhike from place to place via personal belongings, including jackets, purses and luggage, or hide in upholstered furniture and behind baseboards.

Here are some tips to mitigate the risk of being bitten or transporting bed bugs:

Check hotel headboards, mattresses and box springs for live bed bugs, their exoskeletons and or dark blood spots.

While full-grown, bed bugs are about the size, shape and color of an apple seed. Travelers should also look for newly hatched nymphs, which are cream-colored and the size of letters on a penny, as well as small translucent eggs, which may be found in the tucks and folds of sheets.

Hang all clothing. Leave nothing lying on the bed or furniture.

Avoid storing clothing in a hotel’s furniture drawers.

Store suitcases on a luggage rack as far away from the bed as possible.

Vacuum suitcases when returning home, and immediately wash clothing in hot water.

Between trips, store luggage in a sealed plastic bag in a garage or basement away from bedrooms.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...sed-Upper-Darby-Apartment-Fire-513485971.html

Woman's Attempt to Kill Bedbugs May Have Sparked Upper Darby Apartment Fire
The woman said the flames from her stove lit up rubbing alcohol that she had poured to try to kill the bedbugs
By Randy Gyllenhaal and Rudy Chinchilla
Published 4 hours ago

A fire that consumed an Upper Darby apartment and caused evacuations in the rest of the complex may have been sparked by a woman's misguided attempt to get rid of bedbugs.

An elderly woman living on the fourth floor of the Elizabeth Manor Apartments complex told firefighters and NBC10 that it was she who accidentally caused the Thursday morning blaze after the flames from her stove set alight rubbing alcohol that she had poured as a way of getting rid of bedbugs.

Because the fire station is only a few blocks from the complex, firefighters were able to respond quickly, going door to door to tell people to evacuate as they extinguished the blaze, Upper Darby Township Fire Company Deputy Chief Peter Huf said.

"First-arriving companies were met with heavy fire showing out the top floor and window of the apartment and a report of people trapped," he said.

Dozens of residents were temporarily displaced, but there were no reports of injuries. The fire was also contained mostly to just the woman's unit, with some minor smoke damage to neighboring units, and residents were allowed back inside.

Fire investigators, however, were still working to determine whether or not the blaze really was caused by a bedbug extermination attempt gone wrong, Huf said.
 
Re: "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."

Niggers and beaners are bringing back bedbugs; we need to control all three types of vermin.:Swastika2::confed:
 
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