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Mutant NYC Bed Bugs Impervious to Toxic Attack
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 14, 2009
Modified Jan 14, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 14, 2009
Modified Jan 14, 2009
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A new report in the Journal of Medical Entomology has confirmed our worst fears: Big Apple bed bugs have developed nerve cell mutations that make them almost impervious to pyrethroid toxins, such as deltamethrin, commonly used against them. Toxicologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Korea's Seoul National University have conducted extensive tests on the resilient bastards, and it appears that New York City bed bugs are now as much as 264 times more resistant to deltamethrin than easier to kill bugs in Florida. Of course, Florida is where bed bugs retire to suck blood in their old age, so it figures they'd have a higher mortality rate there. But up here, they've totally gone rogue, and the Times editorial board is calling for "a task force to figure out how to stay ahead of an army that seems to be growing every year."
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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