Category Archives: Bed Bugs Ohio

You have probably heard the old saying, Sleep tightdont let the bed bugs bite. Well, unfortunately, bed bugs have made a big resurgence across the United States. Although their name comes from their tendency to live in and around where we sleep and from the fact that they typically feed on us at night, bed bugs can be found throughout dwellings and workplaces. Bed bugs can seem to come from nowhere, but are being seen more and more in homes, apartments, hotels, shelters, dormitories, nursing homes and any other places people gather. They are active travelers, usually being transported in luggage, boxes, clothing and furniture.Anyone who comes into contact with bed bugs can unknowlingly carry them into their home or workplace. Infestations are not tied to unsanitary living conditions; even world-class hotels have reported bed bug problems. Althought they are not directly associated with disease transmission, bed bugs can cause a variety of physical and mental health concerns to anyone living with an infestation. Economically, bed bugs can be a challenging and very expensive pest to control. The CDC and the USEPA have even declared that the bed bug is now a pest of significant public health importance.

With the dramatic increase in bed bug activity in Northeast Ohio, local health officials and pest control operators have had to respond to an alarming increase in bed bug related complaints. Along with residential settings, anyone who owns, manages or works in places where people gather should be aware of basic bed bug prevention and response strategies. Examples include office buildings, retail stores, hospitals, dormitories, nursing homes, libraries, movie theaters, and even buses or other modes of transportation utilized by the public.

To help deal with the growing local concern with bed bugs, a number of interested parties representing local health departments, organizations and businesses directly involved in bed bug reponse and control began to discuss the task force planning process. Since its first meeting in March of 2011, the CCBBTF has routinely met to discuss current bed bug related news and issues and to identify methods of improving the dissemination of education and guidance on the prevention, detection and elimination of bed bug infestations.

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Cuyahoga County Bed Bug Task Force

Choosing the best approach to treating bed bug infestations is important. Heat is sometimes ineffective because these bugs hide in areas that the heat can't reach. Sure Thing Pest Control technicians bring training and experience to the task. Wrong choices can be both expensive, dangerous, and harmful to pets and to people. They can be both ineffective and quite expensive. these treatments can also be ruinous to infected areas of your home. So, its important to treat bed bug infestations with proven professional expertise.

Today, pyrethroide insecticides are very effective against bed bugs.

Room defoggers, or bug bombs, release at least a partially effective pesticide into the air of a home or business, but bed bugs (and other crawling insects) typically flee when the pesticide is released, heading for cover in deep, inaccessible crevices. Secondly, a bug bomb will not penetrate effectively behind molding and casework, inside electrical boxes, or inside mattresses. The results are that bug bombs are among the least effective treatments for any insect problem.

Placing high-powered heaters in an infected home can be effective in certain situations, but can result in damage to items that may melt or distort in the heat.

Expertise in identifying the places bed bugs hide and reproduce is necessary to remove the bugs and offspring. Strategies to rid the house of clutter and to launder cloth items must be devised. Sure Thing Pest Control finds the appropriate solution to rid your home or business of bed bug infestations, implementing effective treatments that are both safe and economical.

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Bed Bugs: Sure Thing Pest Control, Cincinnati, Ohio

After decades of virtually no reports, sightings or infestations, pest control professionals across the country are experiencing and upswing in the number of bed bug calls. Bed bugs have been around for hundreds of years and pestered Americans until the latter half of the 20th century when the use of the modern day insecticides became common. As a result, bed bugs became scarce here in the United States, but they continued to flourish in other countries. And thats where and how the current problem likely began. The increase and ease of international travel has provided bed bugs plenty of hosts (travelers) to ride with back to the States. Here are some answers to the questions commonly asked about bed bugs.

Bed bugs feed on the blood of humans and other warm blooded animals. These insects feed mostly at night when hosts are asleep, causing small, hard, swollen, white welts on the skin. The welts soon become inflamed and itch. Some people are bothered more by the bites than others.

Bed bugs and their relatives are not known to transmit human disease. The welts they cause can itch severely.

Adult bedbugs are reddish-brown to mahogany in color, oval shaped, and flattened. They vary from 1/4 up to 5/8 inch long. After a blood meal their body is swollen, more elongate, and appears to be more of a dull red color. They cannot fly but they do move quickly.

Three for four eggs are laid per day over two months. That means with favorable conditions (temperatures of 70 F and with regular feeding on blood) each female bed bug can lay about 200 eggs. Eggs hatch in as few as 6 days or as long as 28 days, depending upon conditions. When bed bugs bite they inject a fluid into the skin that assists in obtaining blood. This saliva also causes the skin to become irritated and inflamed. It takes about three to five minutes for the bed bug to become engorged and then it crawls away to a hiding place in a crack or crevice to digest the meal. Bed bugs will seek more blood when they are hungry but they are easily capable of going two to eight weeks and in extreme cases up to a year without a blood meal. In situations where they are allowed to thrive there may be three or more generations a year.

Bed bugs hide in cracks, crevices, and seams of bedding and furniture during the day. They prefer narrow crevices with a rough surface where their legs and backs touch both sides of the surface. Some common hiding spots include the crevices of upholstered furniture and mattresses created by folds, buttons, and cording; bed frames; dresser frames; cracks along and behind baseboards; behind pictures and in picture frames; loose wallpaper; drapery pleats; electrical outlets; window frames; door moldings; luggage; and just about any other narrow crack and crevice you can find in a room.

Prior to treating a room the bed linens should be removed and laundered. The floor and especially the perimeter along the baseboards should be thoroughly vacuumed. The closets need to be emptied and all the dresser drawers need to be emptied. The contents of the drawers and closets should be placed in large plastic bags (trash bags work well) and put in another room. Please consult our bed bug preparation notice for detailed instructions.

The treatment needs to be extremely thorough. The sides, cording, and folds of the mattress and box springs are treated but the surface on which people sleep is not. Bed bugs do not hide on the surface of the mattress but in the crevices and folds. The bed framing and headboard need to be treated. Once that is done then the entire perimeter of the room and ALL the possible cracks, crevices, and hiding places need to be inspected and treated. Remember, bed bugs feed at night and then crawl away to nearby cracks and crevices to digest their blood meal. Often times other rooms where there is upholstered furniture, futons, hide-a-beds, etc. need to be treated. The treatment is extensive, time consuming, and expensive. After the treatment is completed allow the area to dry completely and ventilate the room before using the bed or other treated furniture. This may take four hours or longer. A follow up visit should be scheduled within seven to ten days.

The difficulty in control has to do with finding all the hiding places. The more clutter in a room, the more pictures and wall decorations, and the more furniture are factors that increase the number of places that need to be treated. Remember bed bugs have the ability to hide in the smallest crack or crevice and go unnoticed for several weeks.

Bed bugs are hitchhikers. They grab a ride on luggage, baggage, furniture, bedding, boxes, and even clothing worn by people coming from infested sites.

If you are working in an infested room doing things like inspecting, painting, cleaning, vacuuming, etc, you are not going to take them with you. Recall that bed bugs hide in cracks and crevices during the day and search for a blood meal at night. Remember though that bed bugs are hitchhikers. They grab a ride on luggage, baggage, furniture, and bedding so be sure to inspect these items before they are removed from an infested home or apartment.

Bed bugs are capable of moving about in search of hiding places and a blood meal. Certainly, there may be some movement along common utility, plumbing, and cable lines in hotels, motels, apartments, and other multiple type dwelling places. More commonly bed bugs are spread between rooms by people sharing bedding, furniture, clothes, luggage, and other possessions. A good precaution to take once an infestation is identified is to treat the pipe holes, common plumbing and utility lines, and electrical outlets leading in and out of the room.

We have found that it is best to inspect and retreat the area seven to ten days after the initial control procedure. This allows time to evaluate the effectiveness of the process and reapply materials to the hard to reach areas. The need for additional treatments is determined by the amount of clutter, the number of hiding places, and the cooperation of the occupants. After the first treatment it is strongly recommended that the mattress and box spring be encased with zippered plastic covers. These covers are available from Target, Wal-Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and the internet and cost anywhere from $10.00 to $40.00.

Excerpt from:
Bed Bugs Pest Identification - General Pest Ohio

Video: Bed Bugs in Clermont County

Bed Bug Presentation

Bed Bug Brochure(pdf) Schools/Day Cares(pdf) Home Visitors(pdf) Bed Bug Information from Ohio State University Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force File a Bed Bug Complaint

An increasing number of bed bug complaints are being seen in Clermont County. This is not surprising given the flurry of activity around bed bugs in surrounding areas. Immigration, international travel and restrictions in the use of effective pesticides are suspected in the rising number of bed bug infestations.

Although bed bugs are not known to spread disease from person to person the bites can cause severe reactions. Bed bugs are difficult to treat. Treatment can take several months and be very costly taking an emotional and financial toll on families. Bed bugs can be found anywhere. They are not selective of their habitat only that they like cracks and crevices to hide in and a human host.

Bed bugs are small (about inch), brown, oval-shaped, flat insects which inhabit human dwellings. They hide during the day, and feed on people at night while they are sleeping. Their bite produces white welts which may itch severely. The bugs can be crushed by a sleeper during the night and leave bloodstains on the sheets. If these signs are present the first place to look for the bugs is on the mattress, particularly in the seams.

Bed bugs lay eggs every day (1 to 12) on rough surfaces or in cracks where they stick. The eggs hatch in 6 to 17 days, and the nymphs can feed immediately. The nymphs are much smaller and white, but turn red when theyve had a blood meal. Bed bugs reach maturity after five molts in about 21 days. Adults can live 12 to 18 months without a blood meal.

Bed bugs will hide in every place they can find, behind light switch covers, in electronics, toys, furniture, clothing, picture frames, and knick-knacks. If there is a severe infestation bed bugs may be seen during the day on the walls or ceiling.

Infested items which cannot be treated must be discarded, or sealed in bags and stored 12-18 months until the bed bugs die. Mattresses can be treated with an appropriate pesticide, and then sealed in a plastic mattress bag. Bed bugs can be effectively eliminated from clothing, curtains, and bed linens by washing them in hot water and/or drying for 15 to 30 minutes on the hot setting. Dry clothing should be kept sealed in plastic bags until needed. Upholstered furniture is difficult to treat, and professional steam cleaning may be required.

Without treatment bed bugs will spread to every part of a home, so begin treatment as soon as they are discovered. Hiring a professional licensed exterminator is strongly recommended. The chemical treatment of a bed bug infestation is best left to a professional exterminator. Only a licensed exterminator has access to the restricted use pesticides which are most effective. The pesticides available to non-licensed persons will probably not achieve effective control. Also, the indiscriminate use of pesticides can create an environmental hazard, or a health hazard, and can cause pests to develop a resistance to pesticides.

If self-treating, look for a pesticide labeled for use against bedbugs. A pesticide which is not labeled for use against a particular bug will not kill that bug. Insect repellents with DEET will not repel bedbugs. There is currently no known chemical safe for use on humans which will repel bed bugs.

Whether a professional exterminator is hired or not, there are things the occupantsshould do to control bed bugs. In addition to the things already mentioned, it is important to eliminate clutter. Bed bugs will be difficult or impossible to eradicate if there is clutter such as clothing and toys on the floor. The home should be vacuumed daily, and the bag emptied or discarded (bed bugs can crawl out of the bag). Bed bugs should not be smashed and left on the wall as the bedbug may contain an egg which will hatch. Spraying bed bugs with 90% isopropyl rubbing alcohol will kill them on contact. Isopropyl alchohol should only be used for spot treatment to kill single insects. It should not be used for treatment of furniture or a home.Keep in mind that alcohol is a solvent which may mark furniture finishes.

Bed bugs are brought into a home by several means. An occupant can bring them home on used furniture picked out of dumpsters, or brought from infested homes. They can hitch a ride on clothing, bags, bedding, and toys when visiting an infested home. Visitors who live in an infested home can carry bedbugs to other homes. Bedbugs can travel through the walls from an infested unit in an apartment building to other units.

If bed bugs or other vermin are found in a rental unit the landlord or manager is responsible for hiring an exterminator since an exterminator cannot treat without the owners permission.Surrounding units should be checked for bedbugs, and treated if necessary. As a rule pesticides should not be applied where no pests are found.

If forced to visit a home which is known or suspected to be infested with bed bugs avoid sitting, particularly on upholstered furniture, and especially avoid sleeping in the home. If possible, wear a coverall, and change clothes immediately after leaving the infested home. Bag clothing or other items which may be contain bed bugs, and wash or treat as soon as possible.

Bed bug infestations can be costly, and are very aggravating. It is best to avoid an infestation. One bed bug or one egg brought home can start an infestation. Carefully check any used furniture brought home. Check mattresses even if they are bought new before bringing them into your home. Be careful who you visit, and who you invite into your home.

For more information on bed bugs please contact us.

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Bed Bugs - Clermont County, Ohio General Health District

SCIENTISTS USE BED BUGS OWN CHEMISTRY AGAINST THEM

COLUMBUS, Ohio Scientists here have determined that combining bed bugs own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs.

The researchers found that stirring up the bed bugs by spraying their environment with synthetic versions of their alarm pheromones makes them more likely to walk through agents called desiccant dusts, which kill the bugs by making them highly susceptible to dehydration.

A blend of two pheromones applied in concert with a silica gel desiccant dust proved to be the most lethal combination.

In the past decade, bed bugs have become an increasing problem in industries ranging from agriculture and housing to travel and hospitality, so much so that the Environmental Protection Agency hosted a National Bed Bug Summit in April of this year.

The species, Cimes lectularius, also is developing resistance to the insecticides approved to spray infested areas, treatments that belong to a group of compounds called pyrethroids.

Desiccant dusts that are sprinkled in infested areas, however, are among the oldest forms of insect control and are still considered effective killers as long as the bugs walk through them.

Once we put the alarm pheromone in the places bed bugs hide, boom, they instantly started moving around and moving through the desiccant dust, said Joshua Benoit, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in entomology studying under David Denlinger at Ohio State University.

Consistently, the addition of a pheromone blend to desiccant dust was more effective than adding either chemical by itself or by using desiccant dust alone.

The research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.

The two bed bug alarm pheromone ingredients are known as (E)-2-hexenal and (E)-2-octenal. When bed bugs are disturbed or excited, they secrete these two pheromones and tend to want to move around.

While some pheromones are known to attract species for reproductive purposes, these particular pheromones act more as a repellent, Benoit explained.

These pheromones also can be bought from any chemical company. Theyre well-established chemicals, are easy to make in the lab, and are readily available, he said.

Two types of desiccant dusts were used in the experiments: diatomaceous earth, a naturally occurring, chalky substance, and a compound called Dri-die, made from a silica gel. Desiccant dusts are designed to disturb the bed bugs cuticle, particularly the waxy outer layer on insects that allows bugs to stay hydrated. Without the waxy protection, insects are more prone to dry up and die.

The researchers first tested the chemical combination on five bed bugs at a time for 10-minute exposures in petri dishes. They tested both types of desiccant dusts as well as each pheromone component alone and in a blend more typical of natural secretion.

Bed bugs exposed to Dri-die and a blend of pheromones lost water at a much faster rate than did bed bugs treated with the desiccant dust alone. The scientists found that bed bugs exposed to Dri-die alone lost 21 percent more water than untreated control bugs. Water loss nearly doubled with either (E)-2-hexenal or (E)-2-octenal applied alone and tripled with a blend of both pheromones.

Young bed bugs exposed to the combination died in about a day, three days earlier than control bed bugs. Adult female bed bugs exposed to the combination survived for about 6 days, compared to females exposed only to the desiccant dust, which lived for an average of 17 days.

In petri dish tests, the scientists found that the combined treatments using Dri-die consistently worked better than those using diatomaceous earth at generating rapid water loss in the bed bugs.

Turning to a more natural setting for bed bugs, the researchers set up a small plastic container in which a folded piece of paper offered bed bugs a place to hide. Bed bugs tend to stay hidden in wall and floor cracks, moldings or mattresses by day and feed on human or animal blood at night. The researchers created this experimental habitat to see if alarm pheromones would bring bed bugs out of hiding.

After the bed bugs stopped moving within the paper, called a harborage, the scientists applied the desiccant dust followed by the alarm pheromone. They used the most effective blend of pheromones as determined in the petri dish experiments, as well as Dri-die, the more effective of the two desiccant dusts.

All of the bed bugs came out of hiding within five minutes of the application of the alarm pheromones, Benoit said. And the combination of a blend of pheromones and Dri-die reduced survival by 50 percent of both young and adult bed bugs, he said. At least half the young bed bugs were dead within 10 days, and about 60 percent of adult female bed bugs died within 40 days.

Desiccant dust is messy, but its not toxic, so it can be used in agricultural settings, such as chicken coops, where bed bugs can be a big problem, Benoit said. The dust method also can be used in housing, where it would be sprinkled on carpet and eventually vacuumed.

These results were achieved in small areas, but Benoit and colleagues hope the technique could also be applied to large environments infested with bed bugs. Benoit is reluctant to suggest the use of desiccant dusts with alarm pheromones until additional experiments are conducted.

Before companies start selling desiccant dusts laced with alarm pheromones, more tests need to be carried out in room-sized arenas to determine any possible negative effects, Benoit said. Even so, the researchers believe the use of alarm pheromones could increase the effectiveness of desiccant dusts and other kinds of residual insecticides used to kill bed bugs as well.

Benoit noted that repeated use of spray pesticides to which bed bugs are resistant boosts the survival of bed bugs with that resistance, forcing the use of higher and higher concentrations of toxic chemicals to eradicate the insects.

We think that rather than pursue completely new pesticides, its better to use old pesticides in new ways, he said.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Directors Fellowship to Benoit.

The studys co-authors are Seth Phillips and David Denlinger of Ohio States Department of Entomology, and Travis Croxall, Brady Christensen and Jay Yoder of Wittenberg Universitys Department of Biology.

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Contact: Joshua Benoit, (614) 247-5093; benoit.8@osu.edu (E-mail is the best way to contact Benoit.)

Written by Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310; caldwell.151@osu.edu

Originally posted here:
Scientists Use Bed Bugs' Own Chemistry Against Them