Front page article in Daily News

Today the Daily News is in red, red for bugs that bite in the night...the front page announces what we could have guessed, that there are double the number of sufferers
they thought. So the previous figure on this blog of 400,000 is now superseded by ahe figure of 800,000 New Yorkers who suffer from these bugs, as cited by a Daily News-Marist poll.
It quotes Dan Kass, an assistant commissioner at the Dept. of Health: "There's not a lot of common knowledge about bedbugs...We're now at the point with the resurgence of bedbugs that everyone will have to start looking for them."
Well, duh. Sorry if I sound mean. And it took two journalists there to get this story out...they could have read this blog and known as much in 30 seconds.
And they could also have deduced that the city is not doing enough about it - their poll says 46% of New Yorkers think so.
The NYDN article does not get very specific, or tell us the names of any buildings with any major infestations. That is real journalism and is being left to a more capable paper to handle, so stay tuned to this site...

Report from Michigan

Below is a recent comment I found at http://www.bedbugger.com/ It mentions how there seems to be no news of the bugs, which are taking over an entire state. This is a recurring pattern. Whether it is due to lazy journalists, dishonest politicians or the influence of the exterminator companies, it cannot go on. If these pests take over it will destroy America economically. See below for comment, or click here to be taken to it as it appears on bedbugger.com

Wenona July 30, 2010 at 11:42 am
My husband works in pest control here in Michigan and has tons of bedbug jobs yet the news hasn’t covered it all around here. I found one tiny article where the Flint Job corp dorms were said to have bedbugs.
In truth homes, apartment complexes and other places around MI are infested with bed bugs. A friend of ours just realized their house was infested and it turns out their son brought them home from a friend’s house- the day he left their house they were getting treated for bedbugs by an exterminator- yet they let a kid stay with them??? And then take home bedbugs spreading the infestation, how stupid is that?
Anyway bedbugs are a major problem and normal pest control products, sprays powders, etc don’t seem to be working. It involves a lot of time intensive work including vaccuming and steaming.
What a mess!
I just pray my husband doesn’t bring home any of these nasty critters from work.

Spanish language press on bedbugs in NY

The Spanish language press was perhaps the best in reporting on bedbugs, or chinches/insectos chupasangres as they are called. On 29 July in El Diario/La Prensa they ran an article, taken from the AP newswire, about the city doing a report and taking action...or inaction. The article did give some revealing figures about how many people this affects - 400,000 - or one in 15 people, up a good deal from last year. The graph is curving upward at an exponentially increasing rate so next year it could well be a third or more are affected. And the year after, well, do the math for yourself.