“Bed Bugs Growing Problem in Mid-South”

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Bed Bugs Growing Problem in Mid-South Posted: 27 May 2010 04:08 PM PDT MEMPHIS, TN – Red, itchy welts... bumps that look like mosquito bites – they're all the signs of bed bugs, and it's a growing problem across the country, and right here in the Mid-South. "We're the same as throughout the country," explained Dr. Abelardo C. Moncayo, director of the Vector-Borne Diseases Section of the Communicable and Environmental Disease office of the Tennessee Department of Health. "There's been an increase in bed bug calls to health departments as well as pesticide companies." He said states that track bed bug infestations have seen the problem grow. "New York has seen a 34 percent increase in the past couple of years," Dr. Moncayo explained. "Cincinnati has seen a doubling of calls." Exterminators say the bugs are "like vampires." "They harbor in your bed, bedroom furniture, and they come out in the middle of the night," explained Kenneth Diotte, branch manager with Terminix. "They're like vampires: they suck blood. A lot of people will have some kind of mark from a bed bug bite, but a lot of people won't." So this is what you need to look for. "What you normally see with bedbugs is evidence they've been there," he said. "Blood spots on the bed, and several blood spots where they harbor and where they stay in the room. Also, they shed their carcass, so you'll see carcasses and a lot of the time that's the only evidence you'll see." The Tennessee Department of Health does not track bed bug infestations, and people are not required to report it. But with the summer travel season approaching, Dr. Moncayo expects to see more evidence of the problem's growth. "It's important for [people] to realize that it doesn't matter the quality of hotel that they're going to," he said. "There's always the risk of getting bed bugs from where you go." Diotte agreed. "There's a stigma about bed bugs that it has something to do with cleanliness or nastiness, and it really doesn't," he said. "Since they harbor in out of the way places, even hotels that do the best cleaning can't get to where the bugs are." His advice: check headboards, mattresses and box springs for signs of bed bugs. Also, store suitcases on a luggage rack, as far from the bed as possible. "Don't put your clothes in the drawers in the hotel room, because the bed bugs - that's the perfect place for them to harbor or stay," Diotte pointed out. He said once you get home, vacuum and wash your suitcase, and wash your clothes in hot water. But if you still find bed bugs, there is hope in "non-chemical methods, steam and freezing," he explained. "And then you have to have residual pesticides to control the population," he added. "It's not a do-it-yourself kind of a project because you have to have long-term control to actually eliminate the problem." Dr. Moncayo advises traveling with a small flashlight. "Just inspect the bed," he said. "Do a careful inspection of the seams, and anywhere there's folding. Also check the headboard. " Dr. Moncayo says bed bugs may contribute to asthma and skin rashes, but scientists do not believe the bugs transmit disease. "Bed bugs don't transmit disease that we know of," he said, adding that bed bug infestations are more of a nuisance than anything else.

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