Bedbug Legislation

Bed Bug Legislation

In reference to the Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008, Budget Travel asks, 'œShould taxpayers fund the war against bed bugs?' The Act, H. R. 6068, is now in consideration by the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection,and would primarily give states funding to inspect hotel rooms for bed bugs. Meanwhile, the bill Dale Mallory is sponsoring in the Ohio House of Representatives, which would establish a hotline where Ohio residents could report bed bugs or get information about them, and would require the Dept. of Health to educate the public about bed bugs, is also getting coverage from Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC and in Vindy.com

You might protest that bed bugs are not a danger to public health, but then the World Health Organization includes bed bugs in its new book, The Public Health Significance of Urban Pests. And the WHO not just includes bed bugs '” as Renee reminds us in an analysis of the WHO study over on New York vs. Bed Bugs, a bed bug is on the cover, with a tick and a rat. The WHO is concerned about the public health significance of bed bugs. Ohio, along with other states (and cities and countries) should be concerned too.

Even state government is trying to quash the problem.

As you check into a hotel for vacation this summer, keep this sobering thought in mind:

Ohio has a big and growing problem with bedbugs at hotels, as well as at hospitals, nursing homes, jails and even homes '” any place people sleep, no matter how posh or pricey.

Last month, a state legislator introduced a bill to promote bedbug awareness, education and prevention '” a first effort to get a grip on the problem.

With more than 30 legislative co-sponsors and shrieks of horror from constituents, Rep. Dale Mallory, D-Cincinnati, is confident his bill is resonating statewide.

'œThis is out of control, and it's getting worse,' he said. 'œI've toured at least five apartment buildings with infestations, and I can tell you it's a traumatic experience.'

Mallory's bill would use $335,000 in state funds to establish a bedbug program in the Ohio Department of Health.

His proposal would educate hotel owners about the difference between bedbugs and other types of vermin so they can be treated appropriately.

A toll-free number also would be set up so residents could report infestations and ask for information.

The apple seed-sized blood-suckers were almost exterminated in this country in the 1950s thanks to the chemical DDT, vacuum cleaners and better hygiene.

Why the bugs have re-emerged in recent years is a mystery, but it might be because of the popularity of travel to other countries, where the vermin were never eliminated, said Susan Jones, an entomologist with the Ohio State Extension Service.

Americans returning from other countries or foreigners coming here might unknowingly bring the little hitchhikers into this country in their luggage, purses or backpacks.

'œGateway' cities like New York, San Francisco and Cincinnati, which attract lots of travelers and have many multifamily housing units, have proved to be especially welcoming to the bugs.

With more than 800 bedbug complaints last year, Cincinnati and surrounding Hamilton County was arguably the fifth-most-infested urban area nationwide, Jones said. New York is universally acclaimed to be No. 1.

Jones has received complaints from New Philadelphia, Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dublin, Westerville and all parts in between.

'œPeople move a lot,' she said. 'œIf they move from an infested [apartment] unit, they take their bedbugs with them. Now we get calls from people in single-family dwellings, which we didn't use to get.'

But the rankings might not mean too much because of the general ignorance of bedbugs in the population, experts say. Many people today simply didn't grow up with frequent exposure to insects.

People don't realize the bites on their bodies are from bedbugs, so they don't take action. Or they hire an exterminator but don't notify the local health department. Or they learn to live with the bugs.

There is no Ohio law that requires the reporting of bedbug infestations. There's not even a statewide place to report them, although a bedbug task force has set up a hot line in greater Cincinnati.

Since the mahogany-colored bugs don't come out until 2 or 3 a.m., they're not apparent in the daytime when people are most watchful.

The only obvious clues might be the trail of sticky, black fecal matter they leave behind on mattresses, sheets, floorboards and headboards.

Mallory, the state legislator, had never even seen a bedbug until leaders from the Cincinnati Council on Aging told him the insects were biting incapacitated seniors.

And earlier this month, he learned that a woman in a wheelchair boarded a bus in Cincinnati with bedbugs clinging to her clothes. The bus had to be taken off-line and treated.

When these things happen, 'œpeople are ashamed. They're embarrassed. They're branded as being filthy or poor,' said Mallory, even though bedbugs are no respecters of socioeconomic class.

As for treatment, effective remediation can take weeks and cost tens of thousands of dollars in a multiunit apartment building, said Scott , president of the Ohio Pest Control Association.

The problems the exterminators face are manifold. They don't have chemicals to effectively treat the bugs. Before it was removed from the market in the 1970s, even DDT was losing its effectiveness against bedbugs.