Bedbug epidemic grips US and Canada
1 October 2010
North America is in the grip of a bedbug invasion, with pest controllers from almost every area of the continent reporting encounters with the tiny creatures, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association has reported (CMAJ 2010 Sep 20, online).
The latest casualty was footwear giant Nike’s flagship New York store, forced to close temporarily in September owing to a bedbug infestation, BBC News reported.
No corner of the US and Canada has been spared, according to a survey of 1000 pest control companies. Around 95% of survey respondents in the US and 98% of those in Canada reported they had encountered bedbug infestations in the previous 12 months.
By comparison, a previous survey in 2000 found that only 25% of those who replied reported an infestation in the 12 months before the survey.
Bedbugs were largely eradicated in North America in the 1940s and 1950s, by the now-banned synthetic pesticide DDT. However, the bugs were already becoming resistant to DDT before it was banned, and are seemingly encountering little difficulty in surviving the more limited insecticides currently available to treat them.
Last Reviewed: 01 October 2010
- 1. Bedbug attack closes flagship Nike store in New York. BBC News US and Canada 2010 Sep 20. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11375298 (accessed 13 Oct 2010).
2. Benac N. Bedbug bites becoming bigger battle. CMAJ 2010 Sep 20. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-3676. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.109-3676v1 (accessed 13 Oct 2010).
