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Bedbug Epidemic Grows
By
Katie
Pratt
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2007) – With the bedbug epidemic on the
rise in the United States, an increasing number of Kentuckians
wake up in the morning to find they’ve had their first
experience with the pests, said Michael Potter, University of
Kentucky College of Agriculture urban entomologist.
Bedbugs are small, dark brown bugs about the size of a tick that
make their homes in small crevices in houses, apartments,
dormitories and hotel rooms. The pests don’t crawl in from the
outdoors. They are transported by clinging to clothing,
suitcases or furniture.
“They are amazing hitchhikers,” Potter said.
Potter said bedbugs tend to be worse in larger metropolitan
areas, but can also be found in small town America. The largest
concentrations of bedbugs in the state are probably in northern
Kentucky, Louisville and Lexington. He said area health
departments have received a large number of complaints of
bedbugs this year, but added many cases aren’t reported to the
health department.
No one is immune from getting bedbugs. Potter said they can be
found in million dollar homes and lower end establishments.
Since they are small and stay hidden during the daytime, bedbugs
can be difficult for the amateur eye to see. People should be
suspicious of bedbugs if they wake up with itchy welts on
exposed areas of their bodies, such as face, neck, back, arms
and legs. If bedding or a piece of furniture contains bed bugs,
it will also have blackish spotting from the bugs’ residue.
Potter said the most common places to find the insects are along
seams and edges of mattresses and box springs, especially close
to the pillow area. Bedbugs survive off the blood of
warm-blooded animals, including pets, and like to be near their
food source. Bedbugs usually bite people at night while they
sleep.
The riskiest way to become infested with bedbugs is to pick up
used furniture, such as beds, mattresses and couches, which has
been discarded on the street or in dumpsters. There is the
possibility that these items are there because they are infested
with the pests. There is also a small risk in buying anything
secondhand that has not been laundered.
Traveling also increases a person’s chances of getting bedbugs,
because they can be found in hotel rooms.
“It’s going to become more and more of a standard practice for
travelers to do an inspection of their beds before they turn in
for the night,” he said.
Though the reason bedbugs came back to the United States is a
mystery, one of the possible explanations for the resurgence is
an increase in international travel. While bedbug cases in this
country dropped in the 1940s and 1950s, there are areas of the
world that never got rid of the bugs.
It is very difficult to get rid of bedbugs once a home is
infested. UK entomology doctoral student Alvaro Romero found
that bedbugs have developed immunities to insecticides pest
control companies commonly use. Another possible reason for the
resurgence is modern insecticides target cockroaches and ants
but have little effect on bedbugs, Potter said.
“The prospects for the future are not good,” he said. “There’s
no reason to think the problem is going to subside anytime
soon.”
If a person suspects they have bedbugs, they should contact a
pest control professional. While hiring a professional may be
costly, Potter said this isn’t the type of insect people should
try to get rid of themselves, because the insects tend to hide
in cryptic places. A pest control professional may have to make
several visits and do several treatments to get rid of bedbugs.
Items that are heavily infested with bedbugs may need to be
discarded, but if a person wants to keep an infested bed, they
should buy an encasement for the mattress and the box spring and
leave it on for at least a year.
Potter said bedbugs have never been known to transmit diseases
to humans. However, people who have been bitten by bedbugs may
want to see their doctor, who can prescribe treatment for the
bites.
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Contact: Michael Potter, 859-257-2398
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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