Don't let them bite

On May 15 McClatchy published an article on "the biggest bedbug outbreak since World War II" and legislation introduced by Congressman G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), the Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009 (HR 2248). The bill includes grants for state inspection programs and adds bed bugs to public housing inspections and preventive public health services. (A similar bill Butterfield introduced last year HR 6068 died in committee.) The article also noted the "first-ever" bed bug summit held by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April in Washington.

According to the article, pesticide resistance is a factor in the resurgence. In Hawaii bed bugs fall under the purview of the Vector Control Branch of the Dept. of Health (DOH). Its website acknowledges the decrease in broad spectrum pesticides as the primary cause but also attributes "the increase and speed at which humans can travel" for the spread of new bed bug infestations.