Recap-of-the-2011-Bed-Bug-Summit- The 2011 North American Bed Bug Summit sponsored by USBedBugs.com brought together many of the leading experts in bed bug research with pest control experts to exchange ideas on the latest trends and techniques at controlling bed bugs. Over 500 attendees and 70 exhibitors spent three days in Chicago last week at the Hyatt Regency Rosemont. US Congressman Robert Dold from Illinois provided an update on the US Government response to bed bugs. See article about the Summit from Pest Magazine UK.



Providing a wake up call about the continued resurgence of bed bugs were professors Michael Potter from University of Kentucky and Dini Miller from Virginia Tech. Also exhibiting was David James inventor of the most popular new product at the show, the PackTite Closet Heater System along with Susan McKnight, inventor of ClimbUp among many other of our friends.

We spent a lot of time listening to the first responders of bed bugs about how landlords and property managers are still not prepared for bed bugs. We thank David Bohannan from Detective Bed Bug, Linda (and Scooby) from Bed Bug Solutions, the team from Bug N Scrub USA, John Furman of NYC's Boot-A-Pest and Canadian entomologist, Sean Rollo. Unfortunately, everyone is reporting that bed bugs are still spreading rapidly in low-income housing and apartment buildings which means more and more people are unknowingly bringing bed bugs out of their homes and on buses, trains and eventually to their places of work. All agreed that more focused training is needed to improve the awareness and response to bed bugs or bed bugs will be around again for many years to come.