From The Scout Report
Perhaps some of you remember the admonition "Don't let the bedbugs bite"; if recent reports are any indication, it would appear that bed bugs are biting quite a few people in the United States.
These tiny creatures (whose Latin name means "bug of the bed") are confounding pest control experts, hotel owners, and even sage entomologists. Bed bugs have sought out humans for
thousands of years, and they are also the rare insect that doesn't seem to transmit any disease as they move from host to host. Not much was heard about bed bugs in the United States from the late 1950s to the late 1990s, and some have attributed this to the successful use of DDT, though this explanation is quite problematic.
Some scientists are now suggesting that the resurgence of these tiny creatures may be due to their importation from overseas visitors. Once a bed bug infestation starts, it can be very expensive to rid any dwelling or property of their presence, as such a treatment requires everything from ripping up carpets to dismantling furniture.
Bedbugs Crawl, They Bite, They Baffle Scientists [Free registration may be required] - an article from this Monday's New York Times about the curious bed bug and its dramatic return to cities big and small.
Bedbug Disclosure Law, Signed by Gov. Paterson, Forces Landlords to Reveal Apartment Infestations - leads to a post from the Wall Street Journal's "Metropolis" blog, which talks about New York's efforts to compel landlords to reveal their apartments past bedbug infestations.
New York, Darwin, and Cimex Lectularious - leads to a piece from New York magazine about the recent increase in bedbug infestations around the city.
Bedbugs: MayoClinic.com
- a useful fact sheet from the Mayo Clinic about bed bugs.
Bed Bugs: University of Kentucky Entomology - leads to another helpful fact sheet from the University of Kentucky's
entomology department.
The Bed Bug Registry is a public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada. Users can search for bed bug reports by hotel name, street address, or city, and they also have a Twitter feed as well.
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2010.
http://scout.wisc.edu
