Ad Agency Hit With Bed Bug Plague 2010

Left: A map of the city's bed bug infestations, courtesy WSJ. Right: Artist representation of the bed bug infestation at a city ad agency.

Now that everyone in the city is convinced that their new clothes are filled with the bloodsucking critters, the city's bed bugs are setting their sights on ad firms. Ad agency Euro RSCG Worldwide shut down on Friday after finding bed bugs in five offices in their building on 350 Hudson Street. A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "We prefer to take absolutely no chances with the health and safety of our employees. Therefore, we decided to close and exterminate the entire office out of an abundance of caution."

Meanwhile, Victoria's Secret has been inspecting locations across Manhattan after an "isolated area" of their Lenox Hill location was found to be infested on Wednesday. The store reopened a day later after extermination, and a spokeswoman said, "We immediately took action to resolve the situation."

After infestations in Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch stores, and a triage room at Kings County Hospital, exterminators say their phones have been ringing off the hook. And they're sick of it! Gil Bloom, vice president of Standard Pest Management in Long Island City, said the growing number of infestations just have to do with the warm weather, which are causing the bugs to reproduce faster. But he says, "From a professional standpoint, and other bedbug experts would agree, we're sick of bedbugs. We hate bedbugs. Give us something with a little more detective work." Now termites; there's an infestation with some meat to it.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on July 17, 2010 12:47 PM

Comments [rss]

Harry Case

And the saga continues. I've stated it before. My concern is that current methods for control of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, are reactive and by the time an infestation has been detected, the bugs from that infestation have probably already been spread to other locations. The bugs are five steps ahead of us, just like a disease that can be spread before symptoms break out. At least with many diseases we can vaccinate to prevent them, but with bed bugs we have no protection other than our own personal vigilance. Its my opinion that we need a faster, more effective means of control or some sort of protective treatment. I know this is a controversial position, but if something isn't done we may be living with this problem and its consequent miseries, for a long time to come.

jaycjay

"we're sick of bedbugs. We hate bedbugs. Give us something with a little more detective work."

Yeah, I feel sorry for those guys. They watch "Billy The Exterminator" having fun chasing after alligators, skunks, 15-foot snakes, beavers and bobcats... and all they get is bedbugs.