The city of New York is experiencing an epidemic of bedbugs with no apparent cause. Officials recently voted down a measure to ban the sale of used mattresses, because, duh, new mattresses are expensive and people need somewhere to sleep.

So where are the bed bugs coming from?

Naturally, the mattress manufacturers blame used mattresses. “The International Sleep Products Association, the trade association for mattress manufacturers, said yesterday that it supported a ban on the sale of reconditioned mattresses. “The filth from the used mattress that lies just beneath the new fabric cover of a reconditioned product can be astounding,” said Ryan Trainer, a lawyer for the association.”

“Exterminators have been grappling with how to suppress the infestations. Several of them testified yesterday, and Cindy Mannes, of the National Pest Management Association, said in a telephone interview that it recorded a 71 percent increase from 2000 to 2005 in the number of exterminators who had received calls about bedbugs.

Councilman Leroy G. Comrie Jr. of Queens, who presided over the hearing, said that residents often blame themselves for infestations. The insects easily crawl between homes through walls, floors and ceilings.”

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck, Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. Oh, god. Yuck.

Via The New York Times.
and The New York Sun

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