Bed bug cure predicted to be $200 million and 10 years away

By Teri Karush Rogers | November 19, 2010 - 6:35PM

Thanks to Natalie Raben at M&M Pest Control for alerting us to a rather shocking forecast made at yesterday's Congressional Bed Bug Forum in Washington D.C.

The prediction in question came from entomology professor Dini Miller, the state of Virginia's urban pest management specialist, while sharing her outlook on the battle still to be fought.

"[I]nsecticide resistance and a lack of new active ingredients are two of the main challenges for bed bugs, and [Dr. Miller] did not mess around when it came to numbers, predicting that it could potentially require $200 million and 10 years of data gathering before new active ingredients could be submitted for approval and availability," reports Raben on her company's blog.

Ten years?

$200 million?

New York City's $500,000 bed bug budget is sounding more anemic all the time.

See all BrickUnderground bed bug coverage.

Teri Karush Rogers

Founder & Publisher

Founder and publisher Teri Karush Rogers launched Brick Underground in 2009. As a freelance journalist, she had previously covered New York City real estate for The New York Times. Teri has been featured as an expert on New York City residential real estate by The New York Times, New York Daily News, amNew York, NBC Nightly News, The Real Deal, Business Insider, the Huffington Post, and NY1 News, among others. Teri earned a BA in journalism and a law degree from New York University.

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