“Bedbugs Aren't Just Back; Now They're Spreading” |
| Bedbugs Aren't Just Back; Now They're Spreading Posted: 21 Aug 2010 12:27 PM PDT  Jiří Humpolíček/Wikimedia Commons A bedbug enjoys the the ectoparasitic life. Bedbugs are spreading. At first they appeared in places that you might expect — dense city centers like New York, where officials may seek a bed bug czar, and San Francisco, which is trying landlord-education programs to keep the pests away. But now, reports of bedbug infestations are showing up in homes and hotels from Ohio to Texas. The stories are downright creepy. Exterminator James Self owns Ameritex Pest Control in Beaumont, Texas. He described one bedbug scene he worked on. He says it was like a scene from a horror movie. "There were spots all over the walls," Self recalls. "And I didn't know what that was. I thought maybe it was some wallpaper decoration or something. But as I approached it, it was totally covered in bedbugs. More than I've ever seen, and that's the one where we had to rip up the carpet, throw away all the furniture. It was terrible." 'You Should Be Worried' This business of feeding on other people... I think we all know some people like that do that, don't we now? ...Maybe bedbugs aren't so awfully different than somebody we know. Scenes like that are popping up throughout the country with a new and alarming frequency. NPR's Audie Cornish spoke with Michael Raupp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland, about the bedbugs' resurgence. Raupp runs a website called "Bug of the Week," and this week's star is — you guessed it — the bedbug. "You should be worried," Raupp says, "very, very, very worried." "They're really not just for bedrooms anymore," he warns. "They really have become widespread almost in any kind of establishment where people live and sleep, throughout both small and large cities." Raupp said bedbugs go where the food is. And for these critters, the "food" is sleeping human beings. "The problem is, as people go about their daily act of going to an office, or going to a movie theatre, for that matter, the probability that they are going to bring bedbugs with them increases." "As people move about," Raupp says, "they are unwittingly bringing bedbugs with them." There was a time in American history when bedbugs were just accepted as a part of life, he reminds. "Prior to the First World War, prior to the DDT era and the time of our synthetic/organic pesticides, bedbugs were commonplace," Raupp says. "That old rhyme, 'Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite,' harkens back to the colonial era in the U.S., when bedbugs were commonplace in taverns and inns." It seems they could achieve that same ubiquity in the U.S. once again. Borderless Bugs "We're now in the era where people travel everywhere," Raupp says. "They just don't go to major cities like London or Paris. We have people going to second world countries and third world countries, where frankly, bedbugs are commonplace. And these guys are real troopers – they're hitchhikers and stowaways." "So whenever we travel, there's always a possibility that we can bring bedbugs home with us," Raupp says. "And bedbugs don't discriminate. This is not a matter of poor sanitation or poor housekeeping or uncleanliness." So, now that you're sufficiently creeped out, you're probably wondering how to know if you might be in the midst of a bedbug infestation. Raupp says your skin can tell you. "One of the first symptoms that you'll see of a bedbug infestation is unusual bites," Raupp says. "And these bites aren't going to be on your ankles where the mosquitoes usually bite you, or on your arms. These bites could be on your neck, they could be on your shoulders, they could be down on your legs somewhere. They could be anywhere on your body." And they'll stand out. "These are gonna be small, itchy red welts — unusual bites." Call in professionals once you see them. "This is not one that you're going to want to tackle yourself," Raupp says. In spite of the distress they bring, Raupp says he's still a fan of bedbugs. "I find all bugs mysterious, wonderful. These ones I tend to find a little bit despicable. But they're fascinating in their own regard." "This business of feeding on other people — the ectoparasitic life — I think we all know some people that do that, don't we now? And maybe bedbugs aren't so awfully different than somebody we know. So, there's a little bit of us in them, perhaps." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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