In many ways, 2010 will be remembered in pest control circles as the year of the bedbug. From virtual obscurity, bedbug infestations have reached pandemic proportions in the USA. Around the world similar reports abound.
Not to be outdone, in the UK the general public is rapidly waking-up to the position already very familiar to the professional pest control industry.
|
A recent four page article in the Sunday Times colour magazine on 19 December will certainly have raised awareness. Entitled Tales from the Bug Apple, it relates the experiences of health-freak journalist, Ariel Leve, who discovers her own apartment is infested. The article covers how her apartment is examined by a bedbug detection dog, the instructions she receives pre-treatment, followed by daily stream-cleaning. Entomologist Louis Sorkin from the American Museum of Natural History is interviewed, as is Jeff Eisenberg of Pest Away. Jeff records he is in constant contact with pest control companies in the UK, but when asked why he feels bedbugs don’t command the same attention in the UK as their gain in the USA he says: “Europeans, to put it mildly, have a higher tolerance to pests.” For salvation in the UK, both US experts recommend David Cain of Bedbugs Limited. Looking to the future David hopes that the current media attention will focus the minds of the British public on the question in hand and bring them out of the denial stage. He predicts things could get much worse: “It will equal what is happening in New York if nothing is put in place to stop it.” To read the article in full – it runs over four pages: click here for page 1, here for page 2, here for page 3 and finally here for page 4. |
|
|
Industry fights back In an attempt to raise the knowledge base and the overall standards of treatment, there are three forthcoming industry events. Although all US-based, watch-out for UK events during the 2011 year. 5-7 January. National Bed Bug Forum organised by NPMA in Denver, Colorado. Details here. 1-2 February. Second National Bed Bug Summit organised by EPA in Washington, DC. Details here 25-27 September. Bed Bug University North American Summit in Rosemont, Illinois. Details here. |
|