Victoria’s Secret New York City infested by bedbugs
Bedbug infestations have been most common among New York City apartment dwellers in the last period of time and lately they have appeared in the shops, too.The last victims from the shop keepers’ series are Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie and Fitch. The shops had to close on a temporary basis until they get rid of the of the bugs and experts say the infestations are an indication of the bedbug‘s strong comeback. Although the bedbugs have been eradicated from America about half a century ago, infestations are common in New York City, and there is a Bed Bug Advisory Board that is focused on preventing infestations. The New York City Housing Preservation and Development department says that bedbug complaints have increased very much in the last five years, jumping from 500 in 2004 to over 10,000 in 2009. This is why landlords are required by law to give a bedbug history of their property to the future renters.
Michael Potter, an entomology professor at the University of Kentucky, says that the bedbug infestations have become a worldwide phenomenon and that the United States is not the only country having bedbug problems over the past years. In the 1950s there were very few cases of bedbugs appearance, and the blood sucking insects were kept under control with a combination of strong pesticides and public education, because people were taught how to avoid them. They appeared again because some of the strong pesticides used against them, like DDT, have been banned ever since. In addition to that, the bedbugs that survived them developed resistance against the anti bedbug pesticides, so bedbugs are hard to get rid of today. Cleaning clothes with steam and vacuuming are the most common ways to get rid of the bedbugs but the pesticides are still the most effective methods of killing them. Michael Potter says that there might be another reason for the bedbugs’ reappearance, such as the expansion of international travel, which helps the spreading of the pests much easier.11
