The Way I See It!

Bed Bugs!!!!

Posted by Randy Hollenbeck on Sept. 7, 2010

Cudahy, Health, Pests, Wisconsin, National

Blood-sucking bedbugs are multiplying, showing up across the nation

Sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite!  But don’t be surprised if they do: The bloodsucking micro-insects are multiplying by leaps and bounds, turning up in nearly every area of the U.S., according to msnbc.com.

More people than ever before are calling exterminators to deal with the pests, resulting in a 57% increase in calls in the past five years, according to a study from the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky.  Of the 519 exterminators surveyed, more than 95% said that in the past year, they had dealt with at least one bedbug infestation.

Some 20% of the exterminators surveyed said they’d handled more than 100 bedbug jobs this year, a more than threefold increase from 2008.  And 7% of the exterminators handled more than 500 bedbug jobs in the last year.

"Most cities have bedbug problems today,"  Michael Potter, a University of Kentucky professor of entomology and one of the co-authors of the study, told msnbc.com. "Any place you have a lot of people, or a lot of movement of people, you have bedbugs."

The bedbug population in the U.S. has jumped by 500% in the past few years, reports Congress’ "Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009."

The nasty little critters are becoming more prevalent because of increased traveling, immigration and resistance to the insecticides now on the market.  More powerful insecticides may be banned because of environmental concerns.

Bedbugs are much more common in condos, apartments, single-family homes and hotels than in retail stores.  They’ve also been found in laundermats, movie theaters and public transit.

Bedbugs travel around in suitcases, pocketbooks and backpacks, hiding during the day and feeding on people as they sleep in their beds at night.  Very hard to detect, the bedbugs usually attack multiple time before people develop enough of an allergic reaction to know that anything’s wrong.  By then, the bedbugs already have lain plenty of eggs, and the eggs hatch in just two weeks.

The pros say it’s harder to get rid of bedbugs than ants, cockroaches or termites. Although treatments are available, they’re costly.  To effectively treat a one-bedroom apartment, expect to pay anywhere from $800 to $1,200.

So far, the Centers for Disease Control isn’t getting involved in the fight against the tiny critters, but some experts believe the CDC should.

"The biggest factor is mental health,” Missy Henrikson, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association and a co-author of the report, told msnbc.com.  "They are so difficult to get rid of that it creates a real fear factor. People experience excessive worry.  It drives them to the brink of [in]sanity."

Source: NYdailynews

I checked with Carol Wantuch of the Cudahy Health Department if the Cudahy Health Department has received any reports of beg bug infestations and she told me they haven’t received any reports of bed bugs.