■ Office buildings—38%, up from 17% ■ Schools and day care centers—36%, up from 10%
■ Hospitals—31%, up from 12% ■ Public transportation—18%, up from 9% ■ Movie theaters—17%, up from 4%
Other places respondents reported finding bed
bugs in the past year included doctors’ offices/out- patient clinics (reported by 23% of respondents), retail stores (by 21%), laundries (9%), libraries (8%), and restaurants (6%)—as well as in summer camps, locker rooms, storage facilities, clothing fac- tories, moving vans, veterinary clinics, semi-truck sleeper cabs, prisons, and police cruisers. As noted in the prior (2010) survey, finding bed
bugs in such varied locations should not be too surprising, considering the bug’s long and intimate history with humans. Bed bug encounters in recent years have ranged from hospital delivery rooms to funeral homes, hence impacting people’s lives from birth to death.
Whatever It Takes Nearly all respondents (98%) described bed bug customers as upset and concerned. The most frequent description (by 78% of respondents) was that these clients were “very upset and concerned.” These at- titudes of bed bug sufferers were virtually unchanged from those expressed in the previous survey (Figure 5). Because bed bugs are so detested, many house-
holders seem willing to do whatever it takes to be free of them. Almost half of pest managers surveyed (47%) estimated that 25% or more of their custom- ers tried treating their bed bug problem themselves, before calling a professional. Interestingly, this is one number that actually declined from 2010 to
2011… suggesting a growing opinion among “do- it-yourselfers” that it may be better to contact a professional. Nonetheless, many householders still are employ-
ing ineffective and dangerous measures (almost half of all respondents gave examples). Many reported seeing excessive and improper use of insecticides, especially bug bombs and foggers. One respondent, for example, mentioned a customer setting off “25 bed bug bombs at the same time,” while another mentioned a client spraying all the beds and couch- es in his home with chlordane, a pesticide outlawed in the U.S. more than 20 years ago and not used for bed bugs. Others reported householders using agri- cultural products, some imported from outside the United States. Dozens of respondents also reported extreme over-application of insecticide dusts (diato- maceous earth, boric acid, pyrethroid-based dusts, carbaryl) to floors, furniture, walls, baseboards and bedding, including sheets, blankets and pillows. Diatomaceous earth—a commonly touted “bed bug solution” marketed to consumers—was especially misused to the point where some clients acknowl- edged having breathing difficulties from over-appli- cation. Other industry respondents observed people spraying themselves (clothing and skin) and their pets with household insecticides. Several respondents reported households resort-
ing to extreme and dangerous measures involving open flames, ovens, and propane and electric heaters, often combined with flammable chemicals. Disturb- ingly, several respondents mentioned people dousing sofas, chairs and mattresses with kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, alcohol, hairspray, wasp spray, lighter fluid, bleach, and ammonia—sometimes in conjunc- tion with matches, lit cigarettes, and even propane torches. As bed bug sufferers become desperate, serious injuries can result from such applications. These worrisome behaviors indicate an urgent need for more public education, and whenever possible, reliance upon professionals.
Controlling Infestations Once again, the majority of companies consider bed bugs harder to control than other pests (Figure 6). In 2011, 73% of respondents felt bed bugs were the most difficult to control pest. Ants were considered
8 PESTWORLD NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
« Bed bugs are becoming widespread just about everywhere
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