by Falcon
March 04, 2010
Reported by: Roxanne Stein
Email: rstein@wptv.com
Last Update: 2/26 10:13 am
Read entire Story at WPTV
BACKGROUND: Although bedbugs were virtually eradicated in the United States by the 1960s, increased international travel and restrictions on pesticides have caused a resurgence in places ranging from nursing homes to dormitories to movie theaters. In fact, travelers who carry the insects in their luggage and clothing are the most common recipients of bites. The National Pest Management Association has reported a 71-percent increase in bedbug infestation in the U.S. since 2001.
Bedbugs leave a bite similar in appearance to that from a mosquito, which takes 10 to 14 days to surface. Once the itching starts, the bite normally lasts for about a month. While bothersome, a recent U.S. study found bedbugs rarely, if ever, transmit disease. Systemic reactions have been reported but are rare.
According to researchers, the name "bedbug" can actually be misleading. "They don't stay in the bed," Phil Koehler, Ph.D., an entomologist and bedbug expert at the University of Florida in Gainesville, told Ivanhoe. "They can be found just about everywhere in the room, and they can be found in sofas. They can be found even in wall sockets, and even inside wall voids ... Probably, about 30 percent are going to be found in other areas of the room you wouldn't even think of."
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