Friday, August 22, 2008
Global resurgence
Bedbug cases have been on the rise recently across the world. Prior to the mid-twentieth century, bedbugs were very common. According to a report by the UK Ministry of Health, in 1933 there were many areas where all the houses had some degree of bedbug infestation. Since the mid-1990s, reports of bedbug cases have been rising. Figures from one London borough show reported bedbug infestations doubling each year from 1995 to 2001. The rise in bedbug infestations has been hard to track because bedbugs are not an easily identifiable problem. Most of the reports are collected from pest-control companies, local authorities, and hotel chains. Therefore, the problem may be more severe than is currently believed.
As stated above, the most-cited reason for the dramatic worldwide rise in bedbug cases in recent decades is increased international travel. In 1999, four separate infestations throughout the United Kingdom alerted people to the possibility of an increase in the worldwide bedbug population, facilitated by international travel and trade. However, there is evidence of a previous cycle of bedbug infestations in the United Kingdom. The Institution of Environmental Health Officers maintained statistics for bedbug infestations -- data collected from reports and inspections. In the period 1985-1986, the Institution of Environmental Health Officers reported treating 7,771 infestations in England and Wales, and 6,179 infestations in 1986-1987. There were also reports of infestations in Belfast and in Scotland.
Since 1999, infestations have been reported in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Australia, Canada, India, Israel[21] and the United States. Two separate studies in Tuscany, Italy offer further correlation of international travel with a resurgence in bedbug infestations. In case 1, in summer 2003 a seven-year-old boy developed a number of papulae that caused severe itching on his lower legs. His parents suspected insects in the boy’s room, and found several in the folds of his mattress. Two specimens were identified as C. lectularius and the room was treated with an insecticide. The house had never been infested with bedbugs before. However, one month earlier, two family friends had flown from Nepal to stay with the family for ten days. In Case 2, a forty-eight-year-old man traveled by car to Pisa, Italy from Prague, Czech Republic in June 2003 and stayed in a rented house with three friends. After several days, the man noticed several bullous eruptions in linear patterns of three on his upper and lower extremities. The man found several insects in his room that were identified as C. lectularius. The rented house was well kept and had never had a bedbug infestation. However, a group of Germans had rented the house a few weeks before the Czech group arrived.
Bedbugs had nearly been eradicated by the widespread use of potent insecticides such as DDT. However, many of these strong insecticides have been banned from the United States and replaced with weaker insecticides such as pyrethroids. Many bedbugs have grown resistant to the weaker insecticides. In a study at the University of Kentucky bedbugs were randomly collected from across the United States. These “wild” bedbugs were up to several thousands of times more resistant to pyrethroids than were laboratory bedbugs. Another problem with current insecticide use is that the broad-spectrum insecticide sprays for cockroaches and ants that are no longer used had a collateral impact on bedbug infestations. Recently, a switch has been made to bait insecticides that have proven effective against cockroaches but have allowed bedbugs to escape the indirect treatment.
The number of bedbug infestations has risen significantly since the early 21st century. The National Pest Management Association reported a 71% increase in bedbug calls between 2000 and 2005. The Steritech Group, a pest-management company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, claimed that 25% of the 700 hotels they surveyed between 2002 and 2006 needed bedbug treatment. In 2003, a brother and sister staying at a Motel 6 in Chicago were awarded $372,000 in punitive damages after being bitten by bedbugs during their stay. These are only a few of the reported cases since the turn of the 21st century.