I would urge everyone who's read this article and having problems with bed bug infestation to write to their city councilman and urge them to support the legislature mentioned above. They can't ignore all of us, not if they want to get elected again.

Also, Western Pest Control came highly recommended to us by the landlord who owns the property next to ours, from where our current infestation originated. Don't know if that helps anyone or not, but there you go.

Also also that Cedarcide stuff is utter crap and useless. It helps against ants, a bit, but does nothing to stop the bed bugs, and the greasy oil just ruins your furniture. Smells nice, though.

Posted 7.1.2009 4:13 PM

I second JThomas' plea to contact your local city councilman and support the legislature mentioned above. My wife and I live in Brewer's Hill and also suffer from this plague, and our story is similar to those in the article. A Mexican family moved in three months later, we noticed discarded mattresses on the back patio, bed bugs soon followed into our house. And like others in the article, the landlord is to blame. They have not fixed broken windows, the previous tenants who rented there were a cancer in the neighborhood (Loud disturbances, littering, dealing drugs) and the house also has mice in it. We know, because they come to explore our house sometimes and always meet up with a trap and our exterminator (Ehrlich, who we HIGHLY recommend) told us they are coming from this house.

On a related note, Ms. Blaire Freed's apathy, not "Philosophy" towards bed bugs is downright reprehensible. I'm not surprised that she did not allow City Paper into the dwelling. She probably is a slumlord. Given that she has 4 separate residences living there, she is required to treat the dwelling, not simply "live with it." You can at least make an attempt to control the bed bugs, not let them fester and spread through the neighborhood. I happen to embrace a decent quality of life, not a nuisance.

Posted 7.8.2009 3:17 PM

Edward Ericson’s article Parasite City fails to present the problem of Bed Bugs as another example of a resurgence of traditional public health issue once thought eradicated. Sadly, Parasite City openly attacks causation of the Bed Bug problem in Baltimore’s Southeast to “de facto rooming houses filled with [Latinos] extended families and working men.”

Parasite City misses an opportunity to offer any constructive solutions to the problem of Bed Bugs in Southeast. On the contrary, by framing the issue in terms of race, this article only introduces prejudice and racism into the mix. In fact, it only proves that like Bed Bugs, racism is fiendishly hard to eradicate.

In fact, Mr. Ericson has managed to degrade not only Latinos, but also the institutions that serve them. According to the article, non-profits that “claim” to serve Latino residents are silent about the problem because they do not want to validate the assumption that Bed Bugs “spread out from” Latino households. This is disrespectful to organizations that serve Latinos. Just because an organization serves Latinos, it does not mean that they are the best qualified voice to address public health issues. Further, declining to offer an opinion or comment does not mean any sort of complicity or wrongdoing as the article suggests.

Contrary to the real difficulties in assigning causation for any public health issue, Parasite City leads the reader to believe that the people next door could infect you just because they speak Spanish. The only assumption missing form the article is that “Mexicans”, as Latino residents are called in Southeast, are spreading Bed Bugs to somehow take over the neighborhood.

Hector Manzano

Posted 7.9.2009 10:31 AM

Hector, you didn't read the story very carefully. Actually, Ed Ericson was bending over backwards to avoid seeming racist. He did not frame "the issue in terms of race." What he did was called REPORTING. What you are doing in this comment could be described (generously) as ADVOCACY. Which is different, sport....

Posted 7.9.2009 10:44 AM

Joerock14, you are incorrect on so many things that I'm obligated to rebut, in part to correct your falsehoods and in part to defend my reputation which you willingly smear without knowing much about me. I can only hope that you read this long reply since I have no other way to contact you.......I don't know you you are, but YOU know who I am.

First, you claim that having 4 units is automatically "slummin it". My multi-family dwelling is 3 units, not 4, which both the reporter and the fact-checker got incorrect. It is a zoned 2-4 multi-family, which means I can have 2, 3, or 4 apartments, and I have always had 3. Because the zoning is multi-family and not residential, I am required to pass a housing inspection yearly to fulfill the housing code requirements for a variety of safety features that a residential property doesn't meet. For example, I have a fire escape, 24-hour lighting in public hallways, and I pass a lead paint inspection before each new tenant moves in, all of which the law requires me to do -- do YOU have such safety features on your home?

Second, you attack me for overcrowding, yet you forget history. These east Baltimore rowhouses have housed large families for a century, which means far more than 4 people living in a 3-story rowhouse. I know of a family that grew-up in the 1930-1960s in a two-story rowhouse above their bar, with 9 kids and one bathroom. Hundreds of thousands of Baltimoreans grew up that way, and they don't lament the bonding or bickering that came from everyone needing to use the lone bathroom in the morning. The law states that 4 unrelated people can live in one unit -- my apartments all have one person living in each unit -- how is 25% capacity "overcrowding"? What I am doing is making income on the market rate for legal, decent, furnished apartments. I was a renter for a long time, and now I'm rewarded on the other side of the deal as a homeowner, for which I won't apologize. Owning a home is the American Dream, and I'm living it proudly, every month when I pay the mortgage without regret. I don't earn a lot of income from the apartments, so don't go thinking I'm rich. I've never cleared six-figures in total income, and I doubt I ever will.

Third, you call me a slumlord, yet I live in one of the three units, so I enjoy the niceties and endure the same conditions my tenants do. When they use the garden space, it's because I landscaped it, and I allow them to use it and enjoy it. When they bring bedbugs into my house, I pay for remediation, and I end up with bedbugs, too. A slumlord is an absentee landlord who doesn't care about his property, his tenants' well-being, or following the law. When I invite my tenants to dinner in my apartment, I am neither absentee nor uncaring. I live in the least-nice of the three units because I get more rental income for the nicer units. In other words, my tenants live better than I do -- how does that meet the stereotype of a slumlord?

Fourth, you call me "apathetic" which even my enemies wouldn't describe me as, on any issue. Your statement is laughable because anyone who knows me will tell you how political I am and how active I am. I have attended several neighboring community association meetings offering suggestions for ridding bedbugs. I don't charge for my knowledge -- I give it away for free, to help my neighbors combat the problem. That's called community activism -- helping others with a problem -- and it's the opposite of apathy. When you claim that I am not "handling" the bedbug problem, I suggest you read the article again because extermination sprays, double-stick tape on furniture, and months of spreading and vacuuming dessicant powders is ABSOLUTLEY "handling" the problem. I am handling the problem as required by law AND as a good citizen -- that's a legal requirement and a moral one, both of which I have gone above and beyond to meet. What you fail to see when I say "learn to live with bedbugs" is that they will be in every house the get into for YEARS in the future. They hibernate in the walls, they cross from house-to-house and back again, they hide in corners, they hitchhike on briefcases and shoes and pets. If my next-door neighbor doesn't use dessicant powder, then her bedbugs will come through the walls to my house, and when they do, they will not be able to reach the human to get a blood meal. That means they also won't procreate. THAT is controlling the life cycle of the pest, within the boundaries of my property, which is the only space I can control.

Fifth, you scold me for not letting the City Paper see the inside of my property, so I will elaborate on why. The reason I didn't allow the City Paper into my property is b/c I believe that most print media has a liberal bias that would smear my not-liberal beliefs. I was very clear with the reporter about my fear of being branded something that the City Paper readership would love to hate. Let me give you an example: there's a joke about a little girl at the zoo getting mauled by a vicious lion. The man who saves her is a soldier, and The New York Times Headline reads "“MILITARY THUG TORTURES AFRICAN IMMIGRANT — AND STEALS HIS LUNCH”. Here's the full joke: http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/06/13/joke-of-the-day. This perfectly describes what I think of liberal media bias, and I have every right to fear that it could happen to me. I took a risk when I agreed to be part of the bedbug investigation, and my risk paid off because the reporter and his photographer, both of whom tried valiantly to change my mind about letting them into my property, turned out to be surprisingly accurate, honest, and fair. I am not interested in a headline reading "Jewish Republican anti-abortion female landlord complains about Baltimore being a sanctuary city after illegal aliens send cabal of Palestinian bedbugs to drive her crazy." Notice the real headline doesn't have a leftist political bias -- you really shouldn't insult the rare fair-minded reporter and photographer.

Sixth, Joerock14, you don't know me or anything about me beyond what the story tells you, so when you describe me as "reprehensible," you are rushing to judgment. For the record, I am on the board of my community association, I donate money to a local theater, I am a member of three professional organizations, I know everyone on my block, I shop in local stores, I sweep the street to keep down the dirt, I grow vegetables in my community garden plot, I cook food for neighbors in difficult situations......the list of my volunteer activity goes on. It should be obvious to you that I am no wallflower, which is precisely the characteristic that allows me to go public with a yucky story like bedbugs. I have lost potential renters because I have been forthright about the bedbugs and the omnipresent dessicant powder.

In sum, you and I have a lot more in common than you realize, Joerock14. Just a few weeks ago, I testified in front of city council about raucous bars. I've risked my life to identify "nuisance housing" publicly so drug dealers could be evicted from my neighborhood. I have a direct-dial number for the bulk trash truck driver so bedbug-ridden mattresses abandoned on the sidewalk near my house can be picked up immediately. You talk about all of these problems in your email, and then go attacking someone you don't know who has actually HELPED to alleviate these problems.

Posted 7.9.2009 1:43 PM

Oh say can you SEE, any bedbugs on MEEEE, if you do, pick a few & we'll have bedbug STEW.....

Posted 7.13.2009 10:55 AM

Well gee, Ms. Freed, if you hate liberals so much, then why do you live in Baltimore City? It sounds like you'd be better off living in Oklahoma- which you might want to consider moving to after SDAT mails you a new property tax bill. Claiming the homestead credit on a 3 or 4-unit dwelling while residing at your boyfriend's place is a big no-no. Also you might want to check if your rental property is registered with the city; otherwise, you're looking at a fine.

Posted 7.13.2009 3:49 PM

As to whether or not the article is "racist" is ludicrous. The common infection vector for bedbug IS Latinos. It has nothing to do with genetics, but lifestyle. Poor, overcrowded, from a region that hadn't eradicated bedbugs. It could also be from yuppies who've gone to hotels in New York or Overseas, but they aren't the ones dumping bedbug dung encrusted mattresses on the street. And guess what, there are other latinos on the street, that aren't proable vectors because they don't live like that. Who is paying for the rash of bedbugs? People like Blaire Freed and myself are. We are the one forking over buckets of cash because of landlords who rent to illegals and allow overcrowded conditions to act as breeding grounds and and indifferent city that is afaid to get the racist label.

Is it only Latinos? No. The problem is no longer limited to that community, but as a infection vector, it is also the vector for reinfection again and again.

Posted 7.14.2009 1:41 PM

I would like to say that the issue is bigger than the people in this article and Baltimore. The US as a nation is not prepared to handle bed bugs. It is an epidemic that has gone unrecognized in this country for many years and now we are paying the price. If you call a local, state, or federal agency they don't know who you should even speak to. What needs to happen is we accept that they are back, develop laws and processes to handle the current Infestations, create awareness about the problem, and develop strategies on how to contain and prevent them from spreading. Australia has developed a code of practice specifically around bed bugs, http://medent.usyd.edu.au/bedbug/cop_ed3_draft.pdf. Having had bed bugs, I understand the anger that is felt by the situation and the passion people have on the topic. We need to come together and start fixing the issue.

Posted 7.14.2009 2:46 PM

Patterson Park Resident -- you didn't read my response very clearly, so I'll lay it out for you here, despite that I suspect that you won't read it because you logged on to type some hate words and won't ever check back for a response.

You claim that I don't live in the property with the bedbugs b/c I sleep at my boyfriend's house, but you are wrong. To live at my boyfriend's would mean moving clothing and furniture and personal effects to his house, which I haven't done because it would SPREAD THE BEDBUGS, which is irresponsible. I'm actually trying to eradicate them from my life -- moving them to other neighborhoods would accomplish the opposite of eradication. All my clothing is at the property with the bedbugs, as is my furniture, my cats, my keepsakes, my tv, and my fridge with food in it from which I eat two meals a day. My dvd-player and alarm clock are also in the house with the bedbugs, IN THE FREEZER, where the bugs are likely dead now, because you can kill bedbugs by freezing them. You have NO IDEA what we bedbug victims are doing to eradicate the problem from our lives -- my freezer is filled with small electronic appliances for crying out loud! Not so for YOUR freezer -- do you see the destruction these creatures have imposed on me and my neighbors? I spend several hours a day at the property with bedbugs steaming my clothing and my planked floors and crown moulding and dresser drawers and ridding my place of clutter so the bedbugs don't find a safe haven. Yes, I didn't sleep there for several weeks when the article was published, but that doesn't mean that I didn't live there legally. Unless you are a CPA or a tax attorney, you shouldn't speculate on how the homestead tax is applicable or whether I use it. Since you won't identify yourself, I will never know who you are -- this is the problem with online anonymity. You know who I am because I willingly told you, but you won't identify yourself because you don't want to receive the same hate mail you are giving to me. I should laugh at the irony of anonymous commenters who use the protection of a moniker to attack a public person and threaten them with the IRS and city citations. Thanks for the hypocrisy, PPR, but I'm not threatened because I know I abide by the tax code and the housing codes.

Here's a nice story for you -- I now sleep at the house with the bedbugs thanks to the latest desiccant powder I purchased for $135. The reason I have returned to sleeping in the property is because I have to coax the bedbugs out of their hibernation in the walls and crevices so they will walk through the desiccant powder and die, otherwise they will run to someone else's house or come get me in a year when their hibernation ends. Bedbugs use their sense of carbon dioxide to know where a human is in order to get their blood meal, so my exhales are like a map to them, thus I am using my own body to lure the bedbugs to their death. How many people do you know would use their own body to persuade a blood-sucking multi-legged insect to come out of hiding? I'm not a natural candidate for Fear Factor, so this is a desperate effort on my part. I will be eaten, bitten, and sucked-on by bedbugs of all ages for the next five weeks until the full life cycle walks through the desiccant powder and dies. I ought to be commended for my efforts to keep the bugs from spreading to YOUR house, not accused of tax fraud and lying to the city housing authority. I don't wish bedbugs on anyone, but when you get them at your house, which is highly likely given that you live in east Baltimore where there's a bedbug epidemic, feel free to contact me since you know where I live, and I will tell you what to do to get rid of them. See how nice I am......not the hater you make me out to be.

You also claim that I need to check if my property is registered with the city, which is really your way of saying you want proof that my property is registered with the city. Well, it's none of your business how my property is registered, but I'll tell you anyway since I already mentioned it in my previous comment: My rental property gets inspected every year by housing code enforcement, and it passes the inspection every year. As a matter of fact, the property with the bedbugs was inspected last week by the city, and I told them I had bedbugs and explained how I had exterminated and followed-up with steaming and freezing and desiccant powders. Furthermore, the inspector saw my apartment in the property, so he knows I live there because my apartment clearly looks lived in, and he can see the powder all over the floors. My rental property has been a legal multi-family since before I bought it, it's passed a housing code enforcement inspection every year I've owned it, as well as a lead paint inspection between every tenant. You should read more carefully, PPR, because I explained this clearly in my earlier comment. Does YOUR house pass a lead paint inspection or offer the safety of fire egress with an escape ladder? You'll badmouth me, yet I'm required by law to provide a higher standard of living than a regular residential homeowner or renter is.

Last, don't tell me that I hate liberals. You are wrong and you don't know me and I don't hate liberals. They drive me crazy, but I don't hate them (I probably drive them crazy, too). I never said I hated liberals, what I said was that I didn't trust liberal media, any more than you wouldn't trust Fox News. Liberal is not a dirty word to me; it's an accurate description. Most of my neighborhood consists of liberals (8 of 10 voters are democrat, making about 9% of Baltimore Republican see here:http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2008/10/advantage_democrats.html), most of the community association board on which I serve consists of liberals, and I get along well enough with all of them. When people are willing to focus on what they have in common, rather than on their differences, it's amazing what can be accomplished. I respect the liberals and self-defined leftists that I volunteer with because they are consistently liberal in their views regarding the issues of the day, such as affordable housing, universal medical care, abortion, bilingual newsletters, greening public spaces, etc. I am equally consistent in my opposite views on those issues, and we all find a way to get along because we are mature adults who recognize that the good of the community is the goal, regardless of our disagreements on how to accomplish the goal. People can disagree without being disagreeable.

You asked why I live in Baltimore, and here's why: I don't have to surround myself with a hive of people who think exactly as I do in order to survive. I like diversity, meaning diversity of thought, and even though I don't find much diversity in a city where 80% of the voters think the same, I myself am diverse since I'm in that 20% minority. It's precisely that way of thinking that allowed me to be part of the City Paper article on bedbugs, which allowed readers like you to see that bedbugs are affecting landlords, too, not just tenants. Without me, the reporter wouldn't have known the exterminator who worked on my house, who ultimately provided a lot of information about how exterminators are dealing with the problem. The national exterminator companies weren't going to talk to the City Paper, but I was willing to, and my local exterminator, who did the best he could given the chemicals he is legally allowed to use, was willing to go on record, too. All these people are willing to go on record so that YOU can get needed information. But YOU prefer to hide behind a pseudonym. Please stop criticizing us -- we're trying to stop the spread of bedbugs so people like YOU don't get them.

Posted 7.15.2009 11:46 AM

Count Tousser --

G-d bless you and your poetry skills and your sense of humor, whoever you are. I LOVE your poem, and it continues to make me laugh every time I read it. I might even print it out and put it on my fridge because it provides great delight. Keep 'em coming!

Posted 7.15.2009 11:50 AM

You should thank my mother, she used to sing it to me when I was a small child. Which may explain a few things....

Posted 7.16.2009 3:11 PM

Blair,

Yes, as a Baltimore City resident, it is my business as to how you're claiming the homestead credit or if the rental is registered. One person's tax benefit is another person's tax burden. Thousands of people who own property in this city are wrongfully claiming the homestead credit on their rental properties. One could argue that if the city audited these rental properties, they could recover enough money to reduce our ridiculous property tax rate of $2.38 per $100 of assessed value (which is more than the double the rate of any MD county's property tax rate).

If what you claimed is true, fine, but are not entitled to receive the full homestead credit since you are renting out 75% of your building (i.e 3 units out of a 4 unit building). And, yes, I am an accountant who is familiar with the homestead credit law, so I know what I am talking about.

Posted 7.17.2009 7:51 AM

Patterson Park Resident --

I fully understand how one person's tax benefit is another person's tax burden -- that's part and parcel of the fiscal conservatism I practice. It's why you shouldn't be surprised to read that I think the government is stealing my private money for misuse. Money is fungible, which is why I can't steer my tax dollars toward the military and border security and away from Planned Parenthood and welfare. The Baltimore City tax base could support all kinds of good things if the money weren't being wasted. How about excellent public schools, except that the teacher's union cares more about its pensions than the children it is supposed to be teaching. How about clean streets, except the street sweepers can't keep up with the huge quantity of ill-raised city residents who regularly throw trash on the sidewalk. I wish everyone were fully employed and paying their way, as compared to too many on welfare and too many undocumented (and too many dishonestly claiming the homestead tax credit). I am aware of the controversy surrounding the homestead credit, but lucky for me, my CPA, who passed the exam on the first try, knows what he's doing, so I am within the law. But thanks for offering to protect all the law-abiding taxpayers in Baltimore from ill-willed dishonest tax cheats -- it's good to know that someone in Baltimore cares about something other than destroying stable neighborhoods by perpetuating disastrous social welfare services (which are a form of slavery, but that's another topic). Bureaucracy will always have dishonest government workers as well as dishonest taxpayers -- it's human nature. It IS possible to balance budgets in cities -- see this fun video about the Mayor of Mississauga, Ontario: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY79KbCptTo. It will brighten your day since you appreciate numbers and taxes.

But please note that I am not renting out 75% of my building -- I am renting out 66.66% because my building is THREE units, not four, which the City Paper has issued a correction about. And since I live in one of the units, that leaves two units for rental, so when one unit is empty, I am losing 50% of my rental income. Suddenly I don't look like the slum landlord when the numbers are explained! This is actually the case -- I don't have a tenant for one of the apartments because no one wants to live with the desiccant powder, foolishly believing they won't get bedbugs at a property somewhere else in Fells Point, despite the evidence that bedbugs are an epidemic. Five houses on my side of the block have bedbugs -- it's only a matter of time until the rest of the block gets them -- that's how bedbugs operate, moving from house-to-house. I just got an email from a landlord around the corner from me, and her three tenants have bedbugs, as does the house next door, which, incidentally, is filled with a two-digit number of hispanic males, all of which are likely in this country illegally, so they aren't paying ANY tax (except sales tax) into the government coffers you protect. With my rental income halved, I get a small tax writeoff, which doesn't come near the dollar amount I would get if the apartment were rented, but I will take what I can get from the IRS.

So where's your sympathy? You talk money, you talk taxes, you talk housing code enforcement, but you don't talk bedbugs, which is the reason for the article. Two units I depend on for income, one of them empty b/c I won't allow bedbugs to spread. I am being punished for my good efforts, and there's nothing I can do about it. Eventually, a tenant who has had bedbugs somewhere else will be THRILLED to live with a landlord who cares. In the meantime, you can keep watch on one rather square and law-abiding citizen (me!) while the thousands you don't know continue to take the homestead tax credit, and 55,000 illegal aliens bring bedbugs from Mexico.

Posted 7.17.2009 10:42 AM

Good God! I have come to read this article late, its been laying around my house, so I come to comment late. There is a bed bug problem in America, New York is full of it, I've had friends in DC that had it, honestly they scare me (bed bugs), I travel and hear another radio show about bed bugs in another city in the Midwest. It’s a growing concern.

So I thought I better educate myself and learn about what the bed bugs are now doing in Baltimore and I was incredibly SHOCKED by this article that focused almost solely on Latinos and fear of ones neighbors and if they are over-crowded or not. I've never heard anything like this in any of the other stories I have heard about bed bugs. Yes, I would say this is an incredibly racist article. I am appalled! Especially at this time in America where issues of race and hate crimes and discrimination and immigration is such a hot topic - the last thing we need is some article talking the whole time about a new infestation is the fault of a certain group - which really it could be anyone bringing in this to our city. It heard it had to do with travelers from europe, and the change in chemical laws - that the bed bugs came from Europe. Or maybe it is the punks fault. Or maybe artists. But whoever increases racism in this city with such irresponsible words printed as this, it is a terrible shame.

H Manzano was the only one who commented on this - to me , such a clear and serious problem with this essay that I am still recoiling from the racist and ignorant nature of this article. He is the only one who commented in such a very intelligent and logical and cool calm collected manner. my reply, I know is lacking. It is not as well said, it is my gut reaction. It seems the internet is a place where there are lots of people who are rude, attacking, and so forth - so I fully expect my post to be met with some kind of nastiness as well. I dont' think a good argument can be made between commentaries, but just to leave comments for those who may be reading in the future. to add ones voice, for the record: I am appalled by the racist tones of this essay, I find it more to do with racism, then with bed bugs - and yes, with any problem people can get upset and it can be hard to deal with, but that doesn't make it alright - no it ESPECIALLY doesn't make it all right to put blame that problems are coming from a certain ethnic group. I don’t care if the people interviewed says that is the problem, if it wasn’t them, it would be someone. Bed bugs are coming. Seeing how quick folks can tend to racist explanations and then print it is horrifying. Even if this is a problem that is affecting the latino community the way the reporting was done here, was way out of line.

I am ashamed right now, of this essay, and that there wasn’t a greater outpouring against it. Bed bugs are a problem but oh boy how fast class and race jump into the mix! So now it concerns you, does it? How your neighbors live. But any of the other problems different folks have to deal and struggle with, had nothing to do with you. Because you have enough money and your white and speak english. you suck!

I"m still afraid of bed bugs. They sound terrible. And I sympathize for your problems. But not for the way you handle them by casting suspicion and hatred on another ethnic group of people who are so vulnerable in this country, at this time. Your problems aren't the only problems in the world. There actually are worse things. Like maligning struggling vulnerable minority groups, or the issues that make some people have to move more and live in more crowded conditions and have less money then others.

ug. I'm just posting angry and upset, and I really shouldn't do that. Oh well, here goes nothing, because of my white privelege its alot easier for me to get away with not spelling right, I suppose.

But seriously, blaming ones neighbors for issues is not the way to make this city a better place for us all. Lets talk about the issues in a way that creates better understanding.

Posted 7.22.2009 8:51 PM

I've been getting bit for about a month now and thought this whole time that it was mosquito's because I was only being bit in places that were outside of the sheets (my arms, and occasionaly a leg or foot when I'm hot) and figured it couldn't be bedbugs. I also never saw anything crawling on me, on my bed, anywhere in the house so I figured it had to be flying around! Then this morning I see a crawling bug on my pillow, I hit it, blood smears and I'm like OOOO-CRAP! I tear apart my fairly new mattress which I luckily have had a mattress encasement on since I bought it, but sure enough, in a crease in a sheet I have over the boxspring, there is a little family of bedbugs just chilling. I instantly freak, spray them, wipe it up, and throw the sheet into the wash. I had to go to work so my room it turned upside down right now and I plan on vacuuming and cleaning for hours tonight, hopefully finding as many little nests as I can.

I haven't traveled anywhere so I have no clue how I got them. I hadn't even seen one for a good month of being bit so hopefully my house isn't completely infested by now.

I've been researching all day and it seems like exterminators can't even do much for them and the best treatment is just to keep cleaning (even if it's daily) untill they are gone (granted, if they are coming from a neighbors house, thats a different story). Are there any other ways to get rid of them? I just bought new bedroom furniture about 5 months ago, so it's not like that is old and has crevices or anything like that either. Will cleaning constantly for the next whatever number of days/months do it or is there something else I can get? Powder? gel? anything? Do exterminators actually work when it comes to bedbugs?

I don't have any pets or kids to worry about when it comes to chemicals, just my wife and myself. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Posted 7.23.2009 3:53 PM

What type of steamer was used? and where do I buy Desiccant dust/powder?

Posted 7.23.2009 4:48 PM

PD -- All I can do is tell you what I know that has worked for other people and me. I can't make guarantees or promises of success, but I'm happy to share all information when it comes to eradicating bedbugs. Embrace them now, or you will wake up every night having nightmares about scratching even if there aren't any bugs. They are going to be with you for many months, and they aren't the worst bug -- they don't fly, they don't have a million hairy legs, they don't spread disease. Sorry you got them -- have faith -- you will get rid of them.

First, if you live in the Baltimore City, call 311 and request a Healthy Homes inspection for bedbugs. Healthy Homes is a division of the City's health department, and they will come to your property and help you identify the problem and tell you how to solve it. Free of charge (or, courtesy of your tax dollars, if you prefer to look at it that way). And they track the addresses on a grid, which helps epidemiologists find the vectors. If you are renters in a zoned multi-family dwelling, your landlord is responsible for bedbug abatement. If you are renters in a zoned single-family, or if you are owners, then YOU are responsible for abatement. If you live in the counties, I don't know how their health department deals with bedbugs.

Second, understand that you could have gotten the bedbugs from anywhere, including your new furniture -- if the person who loads the furniture has bedbugs, you could get them. If the truck the furniture was delivered in has bedbugs, you could get them. Bedbugs hitchhike, making it near-impossible to place blame. It just so happens that all of us with bedbugs in the article live near lots of illegal aliens from central and south America, regions where bedbugs are known to have not been eradicated. By definition, science and mathematics aren't politically correct, so when epidemiology shows the vector is central/south American immigrants because Baltimore has more illegals from that region than anywhere else in the world, it's a provable fact, not a politically-motivated guess or a racIST statement. It might be a racIAL statement, but so is affirmative action, and plenty of politically-correct people love quotas. Although you can't prove how the bugs got into your house, you CAN control their presence in your life, with vigilance, patience, and 12-18 months on a calendar.

Third, the solutions, which you can do in any combination you want. All of us in the article used different methods to eradicate the bedbugs, and we've had some success thus far, but it's been less than a year of success for all of us, and we remain vigilant and wary (and weary). Each solution is preceeded by five arrows (>>>>>).

>>>>> Get a can of Steri-Fab or Claire's Spray to use on your shoe soles and your briefcase/purse after you leave your house so you don't spread the bedbugs. Don't expect these over-the-counter sprays to work in your house or on a large-scale because they aren't formulated for that purpose. Read the instructions because these are SERIOUS man-made chemicals, and you need to know BEFORE you use them how to handle them. The web has Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that let you know the impact of the product on humans and pets, as well as how to handle accidental ingestion/inhalation.

>>>>> Vacuum your house well, empty the bag, and spray the entire vacuum inside and out with the Steri-Fab. As long as you have bedbugs, you must spray the vacuum cleaner after you use it b/c a bug could be hanging out in the tube and find another bug of the opposite sex to mate with, and then you'll have 500 eggs you can't see until after the 1st of 5 molts.

>>>>> Decide if you are going to pay a lot of money for professional extermination followed by powders, or a lot less money for powders and/or steaming.

>>>>>Some bedbug sufferers use a desiccant powder called Results, which is natural pyrethrin (sometimes pyrethrum). One of my neighbors has used Results and not seen a bedbug for 8 months, but he had an exterminator spray three times before using the powder. A different neighbor used Results without spraying or steaming and hasn't seen a bedbug in a year, it took about 5 weeks for him to kill all 5 phases of the bedbugs, and the bugs take about 3-5 days to die.

>>>>> Another desiccant powder is deltamethrin, which is a synthetic pyrethrin, and one of my neighbors has used DeltaDust with success, along with professional sprays, the bedbug-sniffing dog, professional steaming, vacuuming.......the list goes on.

>>>>> Extermination sprays don't kill the eggs the first time, but they will kill the other 3 or 4 stages. Extermination provides immediate relief, but not long-term succeess, and it is very costly compared to all the other solutions mentioned in the article. The article also names several pest control companies if you want to try extermination -- ask Healthy Homes what kind of guarantee you should seek. Steam kills all five stages/phases of bedbugs. Wal*Mart has hand-held curtain steamers and stand-up clothing steamers that kill bedbugs immediately, as witnessed in the video attached to the article. The web has lots of information, including where to buy chemicals. Make sure you read the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) online for the chemicals/powders you purchase.

>>>>> Freezing and heating kills bedbugs, too. You can put small appliances (alarm clock, dvd player, computer speakers) in the freezer in ziplock bags, some places say 2 days, some say 30 days. I've been heating clothing and my tv set in my car by parking in the sun all day with the windows up, and that is hot enough to kill bedbugs.

Clutter is another issue, but let Healthy Homes tell you how intense your infestation is before you go throwing out everything or storing it in airtight containers and/or giant Ziplock bags for 18 months.

Posted 7.24.2009 1:28 AM

Thank you Blaire for sharing this. I live in Northeast Baltimore and we're starting to see the epidemic spreading here. Needless to say, I have never been so petrified to be in my own home.

Posted 10.31.2009 5:27 PM

I'm the editor of the Bed Bugs Handbook which has information for Baltimore residents at http://www.bed-bugs-handbook.com/Bed-Bugs-Baltimore.html All home owners, particularly apartment dwellers should assume that their building has bed bugs. If purchasing an apartment or home, ask your lawyer to write in a bed bug clause that has penalties if bed bugs are found in a specific period of time.

Posted 1.13.2010 4:03 PM

The link for the previous post is Bed Bugs Handbook

Posted 1.13.2010 4:04 PM