Sleepy Crawlers: The return of the bedbugs

Bedbugs, once thought to be almost obliterated in this country, are charging back in surprising numbers, health administrators in Nebraska, Iowa and elsewhere say.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services surveyed pest-control companies across the state early this year and learned that they treated 616 bedbug infestations in 2008, up from 196 the year before and only 48 in 2003.

"We had been hearing anecdotal evidence that they were out there," said Dr. Annette Bredthauer, the state's medical entomologist or insect expert. "We just didn't know how bad the situation was."

So concerned are health officials across the nation that the Environmental Protection Agency held a conference in Virginia last month called the National Bed Bug Summit. Bredthauer, who attended the conference, said there were no jokes about the gravity of the meeting's title. There were some jokes, though, about how thoroughly the attendees examined their hotel rooms for bedbugs, she said.

Bedbugs are not known to transmit diseases, although infection can enter the body through welts and sores caused by the tiny insects' bites. Why they have crept back into prominence is unclear, but experts think bedbugs have developed resistance to some chemicals that typically have been used to treat them. They are hard to eradicate and sometimes require multiple visits from exterminators.

Bedbugs

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SIZE: Hatchling bedbugs are about the size of a poppy seed, and adults can be about ¼-inch long.

COLOR: Light reddish brown, darker just after feeding

APPEARANCE: Oval, flat, flightless, six legs

BITE: Releases an anticoagulant to get blood flowing; excretes a numbing agent so bites don't often wake victims What to look for Itchy red welts in the morning that weren't there the night before Dark spotting on mattress, box springs and bed frames from bedbug fecal matter Spots of blood on sheets and mattress How to avoid them Examine second-hand furniture and luggage after trips. Check hotel beds for dark spots; when traveling, place luggage on a rack instead of the floor. Sources: AP, U.S. National Pest Management Association, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

"They are in Iowa," said Tim Wickam, community health consultant for the Iowa Department of Public Health, although the state didn't have statistics on the number of cases. "We get calls from all parts of the state with concern over bedbugs."

Bredthauer said the last time the United States had a bedbug outbreak was about 50 years ago. Some of the chemicals that eradicated them then have been discontinued because they caused environmental problems, she said.

She declined to call the current surge of bedbugs an "outbreak," but said it's certainly a problem. "We're very concerned here at the Health Department."

Bedbugs can infest motel and hotel rooms, apartment units and houses. They can gain access to a dwelling through a suitcase or the apartment unit next door.

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"They affect all economic classes, all different groups of people," Bredthauer said. "They find you."

They are tiny but generally can be seen by the naked eye. They like bedrooms because they can come out and suck the blood of people sleeping nearby at night. They can live a year or more without feeding. They hide in the seams of mattresses and box springs, behind pictures, in baseboards and headboards and beneath carpets and clutter. Their fecal matter leaves dark specks.

Greg Earl, president of Omaha-based Lien Termite and Pest Control, said his company has had more than 30 bedbug cases this year. "It's a bigger and bigger problem," Earl said. "You have to try and treat every crack and crevice you can find."

Some jobs require multiple treatments with different chemicals because some bedbugs resist certain treatments, Earl said. His employees sometimes strip down before they enter their homes and immediately wash and dry their clothing on hot settings because extreme heat kills bedbugs.

He said his firm this year has treated numerous apartment units, but also some houses and one nursing home. "Oh, yeah," he said. "We're seeing quite a bit more this year than we had last year."

Dr. Barb Ogg, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator in Lancaster County, called bedbugs "hearty little souls."

They pose a global problem, not just a nationwide problem, Ogg said. Bedbugs don't feed on dogs and cats unless there is nothing else available, Ogg said, because they have a hard time getting through fur. They like to feed on chickens and sometimes infest poultry farms, she said.

Bredthauer said one strategy that won't defeat bedbugs is moving out and finding a new place to live. They move, too.

"They'll enjoy your new accommodations just as much as they enjoyed your old accommodations," she said.

• Contact the writer: 444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com