Bed Bugs Are Invading The City
By EMILY FRANCES wpix.com

9:35 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
"Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" is no longer a piece of folklore before your kids go to bed. It's a nightmare, that is a growing epidemic in New York City.

New York has the biggest bed bug problem in the country.

Bed bugs are everywhere and they don't discriminate million dollar Upper East side homes are riddled with the pests, even Former President Bill Clinton had bed bugs infesting his New York office.

Jeffrey Eisenberg of "Pest Away" treats 40,000 customers a week and says bed bug complaints to his office are up more than 100% since 2004.

So what is the culprit? Believe it or not, international travel is the main cause. People pick them up in foreign countries and since bed bugs are "excellent hitchhikers" that can live over a year without sucking your blood, we bring them back home. Other causes: organic chicken farms, lack of awareness and eduction, and a drop in routine spraying.

The solution, buy a bed bug certified mattress encasement, not sold at retail home stores. If you don't know if your apartment is infested, call a company with dogs who can sniff out the pests and if you see any blood or fecal matter on your bed or clothes, call 311 or a local exterminator.