BED BUGS: BITE MY ASS!

HERE'S THAT MAGIC WORLD WIDE FEAR WORD: ''PANDEMIC LEVEL''!!!!

A little itch at night never hurt anybody!

Oldcatman
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****Bed Bug Issue Nearing 'Pandemic' Level!
(Pest Industry Wants Government Help As Problem Spreads.)

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- Look for a request in the coming months from pest controllers for government intervention in the fight against creepy, crawling bed bugs.

"I think we know that there are people that can't afford the services of a pest control company and we need for them to be able to control the problem as well. Right now that's not possible," said Bob Rosenberg, senior vice president of the National Pest Management Association.

The group is hosting the first annual Bed Bug forum this week at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield.
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More than 400 members of the pest control industry are meeting to exchange what works and doesn't work in the battle against the pervasive creature.

"Well, look, I don't think there's a silver bullet on the horizon. Or something that's going to come available next week or in a month or a year that's going to make it go away. I think it's here for a while," Rosenberg said.

The NPMA will ask the federal government for research and development funding, Rosenberg said, and more money to treat homes and apartments where lower-income people live and where paying at least $300 for a single treatment isn't possible.

The industry has been meeting for two months, Rosenberg said, to develop consumer guidelines to ensure customers aren't getting ripped off.

"There's, unfortunately, a lot of people trying to make money on this right now," said Debra Kay, a member of the blue ribbon task force, which will release it's recommendations near the end of the month. "It's a consumer protection thing."

More and more people are calling for help with bed bugs as the infestation spreads to new locations like movie theaters, retail stores, hospitals, day care facilities and libraries, Rosenberg said.

"The results of the 2010 comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study suggest that we are on the threshold of a bed bug pandemic, not just in the United States, but around the world," said Missy Henriksen, spokeswoman for NPMA.

The study was conducted by the group and the University of Kentucky, Henriksen said, finding 95 percent of pest control companies surveyed finding a bed bug infestation within the past year, most in suburban areas.

"According to the survey, 52 percent of pest management companies report treating bed bug infestations in rural areas compared to 71 percent in urban areas and 80 percent in suburban areas," Henriksen said.

The Denver Department of Environmental Health told 7NEWS they get bed bug calls daily, accounting for 50 percent of their complaint calls, where the issue was sporadically reported just six years ago.

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