Category Archives: Bed Bugs Washington DC

Bed bug feeding on human skin.

A new study concluded this week that bed bugs were such a problem in France that they now pose a national health hazard.

The creatures have been on the rise globally but in the past decade, bed bugs have proliferatedthey are now found in every U.S. state and countries across Europe have seen huge infestations, notably Paris (which is the number one visited capital in the world).

At the beginning of 2020, the French Union for Pest Control stated that, Frances bed bug problem has seen the number of cases go from 180,000 to 400,000 in just two years.

The French government website states that they arrived in France in the 1950s with the advent of international travel and have proliferated because of their increasing resistance to insecticide. It says that bedrooms and living rooms are predominantly more affected.

A New York Times article suggested that 1 in 5 Americans have been plagued by bed bugs or know someone who has. Washington DC, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles were the most plagued.

Christian Cadieux (R), owner of Bed Bugs Bite fumigates a mattress as part of their process to get ... [+] rid of bed bugs.

Bed bugs are incredibly difficult to remove. They hitch a ride on suitcases and clothes. They can live for many months without having a drink of human blood. To kill them, you need temperatures of minus four degrees Fahrenheit. They reproduce quickly and are immune to common insecticides. They are not fussy about cleanliness or dirtthey are a great leveller in that sense. They can lay two to five eggs each day and you just need one pregnant female to start a brood. They are also incredibly difficult to find.

Quoted from the New York Times, a report by French doctors,writing in The New England Journal of Medicinein June, stated that between blood meals, bedbugs hide in dark places, such as household cracks and crevices, walls, luggage, bedclothes, mattresses, bedsprings, bed frames, spaces under baseboards, loose or peeling wallpaper, electrical switch plates and conduits for electrical cables.

Bed bugs feast mostly at night, crawling from human host to host, leaving bites, but it is the psychological damage which can be most affecting. Bed bugs do not carry infectious diseases.

A bed bug in a flat in Hong Kong on May 26, 2017.

The study analysed 72,000 consultations with doctors across France from April 2019 to March 2020 who reported issues with bed bugsamounting to 110 out of every 100,000 inhabitants in France. 98% of reported cases had suffered from skin lesions (itchy bites), 37% said they had suffered from insomnia as a result and 37% claimed the presence of bed bugs had had a negative impact on their professional, family and social life.

As reported byrfi, they increase in numbers in warmer weather with the two worst affected regions in France being the Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes region and Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur, the coastal region on the Mediterranean. There were very few reported cases in Paris, but because the data comes from GPs, it is unlikely to include tourists, who would probably visit their own doctors upon their return, as The Local points out.

France launched a prevention campaign in February, which formed the basis of the campaign for one of the candidates for Paris mayor, where people can receive advice on prevention and cure. There is a website (Stop-punaises.gouv.fr) and a hotline (0806 706 806).

It remains to be seen what impact Covid-19 and the slowdown of global travel will have on the bed bug population.

To search for bed bugs, check the seams of the mattress, where they love to congregate and then blast it with a hairdryer as the warm air should encourage them into the open.

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Bed Bugs On The Rise, Despite Covid-19, New Study Suggests - Forbes

Bed bugs were extinct in the United States decades ago. Two things, however, have changed since those times: Social conscience and healthy-living initiatives have caused us to discontinue use of caustic insecticides, and an increase in global travel has allowed bed bugs to travel to the United States via human travelers and their belongings. Now, our nation is much more habitable for the bed bugs. The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius Linnaeus) is a parasite which lives on the outside of the body of the host. Bed bugs feed only on the blood of warm-blooded hosts. They can conceal themselves in any tight crack or crevice, and are often found in padding, such as mattresses and box springs. They can also hide behind electrical faceplates, baseboards, folded areas of beds, bedding, adjacent furniture, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a shelter, apartment, or structure. Bed bugs do not discriminate and have been known to thrive in the fanciest hotels and homes, to the most modest dwellings.

Unlike cockroaches, bed bugs travel by hitchhiking, and commonly take a ride on a human host, or a persons garments or travel bags. Bed bugs usually feed at night but can take a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily-infested areas. They usually require 5-10 minutes to engorge with the hosts blood. After feeding, they move to a secluded place and hide for 5-10 days. During this time, they do not feed, but instead digest their meal, mate, and lay eggs. Here are some quick facts:

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Bed Bugs Information | doh - Washington, D.C.

Got bugs? Many cities do, if it is bedbugs that are the target. Washington, D.C., is the No. 1 city on Orkin's Top 50 Bed Bug Cities list, topping nearby Baltimore, which fell to the second spot after three years as the front-runner.Indianapolis joined the top10 of the list this year.

Flint, Michigan, saw the biggest jump moving 16 spots to No. 31 after only joining the list in 2018. Pittsburgh and Champaign, Illinois, both broke into the top 20, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Toledo, Ohio, joined the top 50 list for the first time.

The list is based on treatment data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bedbug treatments from Dec. 1, 2018 to Nov. 30, 2019. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

"While bed bugs have not been found to transmit any diseases to humans, they can be an elusive threat to households," said Chelle Hartzer, an Orkin entomologist. "They are excellent hitchhikers, and they reproduce quickly which make it nearly impossible to prevent bed bugs. Sanitation has nothing to do with where you'll find them."

Bedbugs, which are typically 4-5 mm in length and red to dark brown in color, can travel from place to place with ease, including luggage, purses and other belongings. Normally nocturnal, bedbugs will come out of hiding to take blood meals from sleeping or quietly resting humans.

According to the 2018 "Bugs without Borders Survey" by the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), the top three places where pest professionals report finding bedbugs are single-family homes (91%), apartments/condominiums (89%) and hotels/motels (68%). With that, hotels spend an average of $6,383per bedbug incident.

Bedbugs are known for rapid population growth. Females can deposit one to five eggs a day and may lay 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime. Under normal room temperatures and with an adequate food supply, they can live for more than 300 days, often making treatment challenging.

"The key to preventing a bed bug infestation is early detection," Hartzer said. "When one or more bed bugs enter a space, we call it an introduction. During an introduction, bed bugs probably haven't started reproducing yet, but they could soon. Vigilance is key to stopping bed bugs before infestation levels."

Tell-tale signs of a bedbug introduction could include small black spots indicating bedbug feces or nymph bedbugs in places such as mattress seams, bed frames and furniture. Their small size and ability to hide make them difficult to see during the day, so it's important to look for the black, ink-like stains they can leave behind.

Here are proactive tips Orkin recommends for travelers:

During travel, remember the acronym S.L.E.E.P. to inspect for bedbugs:

Survey the hotel room for signs of an infestation. Be on the lookout for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattress seams, in soft furniture and behind headboards.

Lift and look in bedbug hiding spots: the mattress, box spring and other furniture, as well as behind baseboards, pictures and even torn wallpaper.

Elevate luggage away from the bed and wall. The safest places are in the bathroom or on counters.

Examine your luggage carefully while repacking and once you return home from a trip. Always store luggage away from the bed.

Place all dryer-safe clothing from your luggage in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at the highest setting after you return home.

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Afraid of bedbugs? Avoid these cities, says Orkin - MultiBriefs Exclusive

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Two reports of bed bugs confirmed at Edinboro University dorms; University says the situation is being taken care of - YourErie

Bed bugs: two words that can create psychological havoc with most people. Although bed bugs were nearly wiped out in the developed world by the 1950s, these tiny parasitic insects have made a tremendous comeback in recent years.

Bed bugs are insects in the family Cimicidae. The most common species of bed bug is cimex lectularius. They feed entirely on the blood of vertebrates, however, they have a preference for human blood. Bed bugs are sneaky, hiding in places where they can have rapid access to a blood meal and with as little disturbance as possible. Once they have fed, bed bugs will quickly abandon their host and hide.

Potential hiding spots include beds, sofas, chairs and near any other location where humans are sedentary for extended periods of time. You should learn how to find bed bugs in your home or how to check for them in a hotel room.

Bed bugs are found almost everywhere humans inhabit, and according to the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, almost 100% of pest management professionals have treated for bed bugs in the past year. Bed bugs are regularly found in places such as single family homes, condos, apartments, hotels and motels. Additionally, there are increasing incidents of bed bugs infesting places such as retail stores, movie theaters, public transportation and restaurants. In fact, bed bug pest control services are one of the most requested services Ehrlich offers and the demand seems to be growing.

People who have been bitten by bed bugs often suffer more psychological harm than physical harm. The thought of being fed upon as you sleep is extremely disturbing to most people. Bed bugs do not transmit disease to humans, and skin reactions to bed bug bites will vary, but most reactions are similar to those of mosquito bites.

We have created The Essential Guide to Bed Bugs to try and answer all of your questions about bed bugs. This resource will also provide guidance when you have an infestation. You can also find our frequently asked bed bugs questions page for more information. Click below to see the answers.

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The Essential Guide to Bed Bugs | Ehrlich Pest Control