NEW YORK, NY April 13, 2009 —City health officials will be in Virginia this week at a national conference hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss how best to combat bedbugs. Assistant Health Commissioner Dan Kass says bedbugs have resurfaced in force in recent years, after largely disappearing for many, so there’s a lot to learn – and re-learn.

KASS: There are folks who have done a tremendous amount of study, about the kinds of products and practices that work well, there are other jurisdictions that may have some ideas about how to encourage property owners to act quickly. We’d like to hear some of those.

Kass says he wants to see what regulations other states have to police over-the-counter pesticides – many of which he says are dangerous and ineffective.

The city health department for years said bedbugs were not a public health problem, because they are a nuisance but do not transmit disease. Kass says his agency now is committed to assessing the problem thoroughly and helping property-owners, tenants and exterminators work together more effectively.