Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Treatment
• Even where insecticide resistance is pre-
sent, bed bugs can still be effectively
controlled using a sequence of different
insecticides.
It was recognized that the bugs were likely
to be insecticide resistant so a sequence of
treatments using different chemical classes
was therefore used. Initially a carbamate
spray was applied in tank mix with an IGR,
followed by a photostable pyrethroid and
IGR combination product, followed by an
organophosphate treatment. In addition, a
desiccant dust was applied under fi tted
carpets, behind electrical sockets and in
other voids. Treatments were applied at
about 10-day intervals, so the time from
survey to reinstatement of each room was
between 3 and 4 weeks. All treatments were
applied in accordance with the statutory
label conditions. The entire treatment
programme in the hotel was completed in
10 weeks.
Future Prospects for Bed Bug Status
and Management
The bed bug has risen from obscurity to
prominence within a decade and is having a
signifi cant impact on the housing and
hospitality sectors.
The upsurge has caught media attention,
has attracted an increase in research
funding and has triggered a wave of
entrepreneurial activity, especially for
products such as monitors, barriers and
non-chemical control systems that require
little or no approval. Although lead times
for insecticide development and intro-
duction are much longer, some products
containing novel insecticides, or mixtures
of insecticides, have already been
introduced to control resistant strains. A
number of protocols and Codes of Practice
have also now been produced that set out
good practice for bed bug control.
Other urban pests, such as German
cockroaches and pharaoh ants, have also
gone through periods of relatively high
infestation levels but these pests have
eventually declined, largely as a result of
innovations in control technology. The
trajectory of the current bed bug upsurge is
not yet clear. On the one hand, pest control
organizations are now much better
equipped, in terms of both information and
products, than they were in the early stages
of the outbreak. On the other hand, the
novel systems that are now being used
against bed bugs, such as canine detection,
use of a sequence of insecticide treatments,
heat treatment, etc., are all relatively costly.
As a result, although such control measures
are being readily implemented by those that
can afford them, the uptake of control
measures is less in low-income accom-
modation. Unless effective, low-cost and
widely applicable techniques can be
developed and implemented, there is a risk
Outcome of treatment
The pest control contractor carried out
3-monthly inspections of all rooms within
the hotel for 2 years after treatment. At the
fi rst post-treatment inspection, only one
room was found to be still infested, so the
area was re-treated, and no further bed bugs
were seen. The next positive report of bed
bugs was 15 months later in a room that
had not been previously infested so these
were probably newly introduced bugs.
Between the time when the treatment
programme had fi nished and the fi rst new
sighting, about 30,000 guests had stayed at
the hotel.
Conclusions
The above study was important for several
reasons. It demonstrated that:
• A proactive bed bug management
strategy is more effective than a reactive
approach.
• Unusually high infestation rates in
hotels are more likely to be a result of
ineffective pest control than rapid
re-invasion.
• Bed bugs can be eradicated, even from a
busy hotel.
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