Washington, D.C. — A special briefing for journalists titled “Bed Bugs and Mosquitoes: Current Threats to Human, Animal and Livestock Health” will be held July 12 at 9:30 a.m. 

Bed bugs and mosquitoes are excellent at their jobs: Spreading discomfort and disease. Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann and Laura Harrington, Cornell University entomologists, will brief journalists on the battle against these pests in “Bed Bugs and Mosquitoes: Current Threats to Human, Animal and Livestock Health,” at 9:30 a.m., Zenger Room, National Press Club Building, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C.  on Tuesday, July 12.

Gangloff-Kaufmann is an internationally known bed bug expert who is on the front line of the battle for control in New York City and elsewhere. As a New York State Integrated Pest Management Program field expert, she has spent the past decade helping families and municipalities combat the rise of this resurgent parasite. As a member of New York City’s specially created Bed Bug Advisory Board, she helped craft the Spring 2010 report that calls for a coordinated education and control campaign, and urges the creation of a “Bed Bug Task Force” to oversee the effort.

Harrington, a Cornell associate professor of entomology, will discuss the Asian tiger mosquito and the Asian bush mosquito, and their threats to human, animal and livestock health. These threats include the West Nile virus, Dengue fever virus, encephalitis viruses and dog heartworm. She will discuss the Chikungunya virus, which is now in the United States. She will conclude the briefing discussing of the critical U.S. Department of Agriculture research funding for mosquito surveillance and control strategies.

The researchers will be briefing Congressional staff in the afternoon.

For more information, contact Blaine Friedlander at 607/254-8093, or by e-mail at blaine@cornell.edu.