National Study On Bed Bugs
National Study Examines Growing Bed Bug Challenge
The scale of the growing challenge posed by bed bugs in the UK is highlighted in the results of a new national study undertaken with professional pest controllers across the country by behaviour-led control experts, Sorex.
Conducted by www.behaviourled.com in early 2009, the study involved a cross section of more than 60 private and Local Authority pest controllers from Morayshire in Scotland to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. More than 80% regard bed bug control as important in their organisations these days with well over half of these rating the pest as very important.
Rented houses and flats clearly stand out as presenting the greatest problems, ahead of residential homes, urban and suburban hotels and boarding houses. Although of relatively lesser importance, over a quarter of pest controllers report treating bed bugs in hospitals and institutions.
Just under 90% of PCOs have seen an increase in bed bug treatment calls in recent years, the Sorex study reveals, with over two thirds of these regarding the increase as significant. At the same time, over 90% are finding bed bugs becoming more challenging to deal, two thirds significantly so. More restricted insecticide choice is identified as the greatest particular current control challenge.
"Our study clearly confirms the growing anecdotal evidence of serious increases in UK bed bug problems in recent years," comments Sorex co-ordinator, James Whittaker. "This is hardly surprising given greater international travel, increased pressure on houses in multiple occupation, increasingly disadvantaged communities and decreased use of residual insecticides in cockroach control, amongst other factors. And, of course, to cap it all the industry has recently lost one of its most widely used weapons in the war against bed bugs – chlorpyrifos – under the EU Biocidal Products Directive. "Thankfully, insecticide resistance doesn't appear to be nearly as widespread a problem as some may assume," he reveals. "Indeed, our study shows that 70% of pest controllers rarely if ever encounter resistance while only 2% come across it on a regular basis."
James Whittaker attributes this to a combination of the relatively large number of products and product combinations that have been employed in bed bug control and the thoroughness of the control regimes employed by the majority of PCOs. Now without chlorpyrifos, the Sorex study reveals a total of 21 different insecticides and some 10 different active ingredients currently in broad professional use.
"Alongside the most effective products, of course, first class treatment practice is essential for good bed bug control," he adds. "Because they live in a wide range of hard and soft furnishings as well as wall and skirting cracks and crevices and can survive up to 18 months without food, this has to include good preparation, treatment and follow-up.
"Against this background, it's really encouraging to see the thoroughness with which most professional pest controllers are tackling bed bugs these days. The fact that the vast majority are undertaking exhaustive inspections; treating all perimeter walls and voids, hard furnishings, sockets and switches; disposing of or treating all mattresses; and, revisiting treated premises at least once to re-treat if necessary is clearly playing a major role in keeping on top of these problem pests.