Jan 16, 2008 7:13 pm US/Eastern
New York City Launches Bedbug Task Force
Seminars Offered After City Records 7,000 Complaints In 2007
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
New York City is waging a giant war against a microscopic foe: the bedbug.
The pesky nocturnal pests have become such a problem in the city, officials announced they've created a task force to help educate the public on how to avoid and get rid of them.
Hotel guests have filed several lawsuits recently claiming they were bitten by bedbugs, and the city now fears the bugs have spread into residential neighborhoods in all five boroughs.
Nick LaMedica, a student at Marymount Manhattan College, where two dormitories on the east side of campus had outbreaks of bedbugs, says the outbreaks had students in fear.
"It was gross. It really attached a stigma to everybody because once you found out who had bedbugs, you were trying to stay away from everyone who did have them," he tells CBS 2. "It's totally disgusting. You itch even if you don't have a bed bug problem."
Rachel Balma, whose building was also infested, says students with bedbugs were greatly impacted. "They had to have all their laundry taken out and they're wearing the same clothes for three days while people were vacuuming out their rooms," she says.
According to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, there have been recent outbreaks at places like posh hotels and fancy Upper East Side apartment buildings.
The department says that in 2004, the city received 1,800 complaints about bedbugs. Last year, they counted more than 7000 complaints of the parasites.
On Wednesday, the city announced three bedbug seminars in the coming months to educate people.
Experts say there are many misconceptions about bedbugs.
"People don't like to report they have bedbugs because they think it's from an unclean habitat, or they try to take care of bedbug infestations themselves. Or some people think that bed bugs are in beds only," says Louis Sorkin, an entomologist at the Museum of Natural History.
And that's what could be most surprising -- that bedbugs can be found in far more places than just your bed.
"They can live inside your cell phones, inside your TV, in dressers, on the seams of curtains, inside of your clothes," says Henny Calle of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Sorkin says it's important to look in light switches, electrical outlets, even wiring around the house. "Bedbugs will use these as highways and get on the wiring and go from one room to another or one apartment to another," he says.
He adds while many people look for brown bedbugs, most of them are babies that are clear and hard to see. They're also extremely thin, about as wide as a piece of paper.
Most bed bugs spend their lives inactive just waiting to feed, but when they sense heat, such as human body heat nearby, that's when they start moving around looking for blood. If you happen to sleep tight where the bedbugs bite, you may then inadvertently bring them with you wherever you go.
"If you have one female adult bedbug, she may lay eggs in your suitcase and then you keep your suitcase in your house," says Sorkin. "It could take months for the bedbugs to hatch and start biting you."
Officials say bedbugs can go without a feeding for up to a year, so it's key to find them. And if you do, you're urged to call 311 immediately.
There are three seminars for those who want to learn more about bedbugs:
Monday, January 28, 2008 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Russ Berrie Pavilion
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
1st Floor Conference Room
1150 St. Nicholas Avenue at 168th Street, New York, NY 10032
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 from 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Ricardo's Catering Hall
21-01 24th Avenue in Astoria, Queens
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Hope Gardens Senior Center
195 Linden Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn
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