What you need to know about Bed bugs ! - Division of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness - LouisvilleKy.gov
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What you need to know about Bed bugs !
Division of Environmental Health
and Emergency Preparedness
Public Facilities Program
502-574-6650
www.louisvilleky.gov/health
Many Thanks to following for the information contained in this handout.
The History of Bed Bugs Bed bugs trace back to the time when humans moved into caves for shelter. Studies show the bed bugs who bite humans today evolved from the bugs that fed on bats 250,000 years ago. When humans left their caves, the bat bugs were carried with them. Bed bugs made their way across the oceans centuries ago by stowing away in the clothing and bedding of the European explorers and settlers seeking new lands in the Americas. By the early 20th century, the majority of Americans had seen a bed bug and most had been bitten. Surveys taken at that time showed that almost one third of all the residences in America were infested. By the 1940’s-50’s, bed bug infestations were no longer a problem. People knew what bed bugs looked like and took action to get rid of them. The pesticide DDT, used extensively in the 1950’s was very effective against bed bugs. DDT has since been banned and bed bugs are now resistant to this pesticide. The introduction of the vacuum cleaner and the simple furniture design in the 40’s- 50’s also helped in eliminating bed bugs. Bed bug infestations went down and were no longer a big problem in our homes. They’re Back Bed bugs have made a comeback in the United States and across the world. Experts believe the recent increase in bed bugs in the United States may be because of: increased worldwide travel many people lack the knowledge on how to identify and prevent bed bug infestations increased resistance of bed bugs to pesticides used today ineffective pest control practices. Once bed bugs are in our homes, they can rapidly increase in numbers by hiding in our beds and other dark, cluttered out-of-the-way areas. Whether you have lots of money or not; bed bug infestations are found in both clean and unclean conditions. The good news is that there are ways to control bed bugs. Getting good, solid information is the first step in both prevention and control. While there is no chemical quick fix, there are effective ways to control bed bugs involving both non-chemical and chemical methods. What are the Risks from Bed Bugs Bed bugs do not spread disease, but several negative health effects can occur after a bite. These health conditions include skin rashes, allergy symptoms, and psychological issues. People living in bed bug infested homes may experience panic, stress, anxiety, and very little sleep because they fear being bitten. Feelings of stigma (shame), anger, frustration and depression are common. Individuals and families dealing with bed bugs may be told the bed bug problem must be taken care of before returning to work or sending their children back to school which results in many families believing they can move away from the problem. This just spreads bed bugs to new locations. People often isolate themselves from others and do not report bed bugs to their property owners or ask for help. The cost for professional pest control can be high for those least able to pay. For rental situations, contact your landlord for help. Homeowners should contact a professional pest management company because they are trained and licensed to do these treatments in a safe manner. Using home remedies or store bought pest control products often do not work. Bed bug products bought at the local store might make your problem worse if NOT used properly and could cause harm to you and your family. If bed bug infested homes remain untreated or improperly treated, bed bug populations in our community will spread to new locations.
Bed Bug Biology
Bed bugs are small insects that feed mainly on human blood. A newly hatched bed bug
(nymph) is semi-transparent, light in color, and the size of a poppy seed. The color of a
nymph will appear red if it has just fed. Adult bed bugs are flat, have rusty-red-colored
oval bodies, and are about the size of an apple seed. Adults will increase in size after a
feeding. The bed bug life cycle has five stages. The bed bug must take a blood meal
before it can grow to the next stage. Bed bugs have their skeleton on the outside of their
body (exoskeleton) and must shed their exoskeleton to grow bigger. Adult bed bugs need
to have regular blood meals to reproduce. Below is a diagram of bed bug life cycle.
A female bed bug will produce between
1-7 eggs per day for about 10 days after a
blood meal. She will have to feed again to
produce more eggs.
Most nymphs will develop to the next stage
within 5 days of taking a blood meal.
The average time for the bed bug to go
through the life cycle is about 37 days.
The blood meal provides hydration
(moisture) to the bed bug, just like water
is necessary for humans.
Bed bugs pack tightly together in small
cracks and crevices. This helps keep their
hiding places at favorable temperatures
and humidity.
Bed bugs can live without a blood meal,
hiding together for over 70 days when a
home or apartment is vacant.
Bed bugs can be easily confused with other small household insects, including small
beetles and newly hatched cockroaches. Bed bug identification must be confirmed !
“One pair of bed bugs can become 35,000 in just 10 weeks if not controlled.”
Phil Koehler, Professor of Entomology, University of Florida
Bed Bug Bites
Bed bug bites are most often found on the upper body; neck, arm and shoulders.
In heavy infestations, bed bug bites will be found on all exposed parts of the body.
In most situations, bed bugs usually feed at night in the dark but may feed during the
day, especially if you sleep during the day.
Some people do not react to bed bug bites and others are very sensitive.
Bite marks may appear within minutes or days. They can be small bumps, a rash or
large itchy welts.
The bumps, rash or welts usually go away after a few days.
Bed bug bites can be very itchy and irritating. Usually an anti-itching
cream will help.
If bites become infected, you should see a doctor.
Bed bug bites may resemble mosquito
and other insect bites. It is critical to
confirm bed bugs in the sleeping or living
area by inspecting for the signs of a bed
bug infestation. Bites alone do not
confirm that you have bed bugs.
What You Need To Look For Bed Bugs
What to Look for in your Home
Live Bed Bugs : Bed bugs can look different after they
have fed. If an adult bed bug has not fed recently, it will
look like a flat disc, about 3/4 inches long and oval in shape.
After feeding, the body blows up like a balloon and the color
will be red. After it digests the blood, it will turn reddish
brown and flatten back out. Bed bug nymphs also change in
appearance after they feed. They look pale white or yellow
before they feed and turn bright red and plump after a
blood meal. Nymphs are easier to see once they have fed.
Bed Bug Eggs : Females will deposit one, two or more eggs
each day. The eggs are tiny (about the size of a dust speck),
whitish and hard to see without a magnifying glass. When first
laid, the eggs are sticky, causing them hold tight to surfaces.
Fecal Spots : After the bed bug feeds, it starts digesting the blood
meal. The fecal waste comes out in a semi-liquid form and is black
in color (looks like a small magic marker spot). Fecal spots can be
found along the mattress seams, the wood frame of the box springs,
behind the headboard, along the tops of baseboards, at the edge of
carpeting, on ceiling and wall junctions, behind pictures on the wall
and at electrical outlets. If the bed bug infestation is large, check all
furniture and the same areas in other rooms.
Molted Skins : Look almost the same as a bed bug. They are the same
shape and usually clear (see-through) in color. They look like an empty
bed bug shell. They will be different sizes depending on the life stage of
the bed bug that molted. Look for molted skins along mattress seams,
box spring, headboards, in ceiling/wall junctions, along baseboards and
stuck to personal belongings.
Blood Stains : Rusty or reddish smears on bed sheets or mattresses from
crushed bed bugs that have recently fed.
Bed Bug colonies : Bed bugs hide together so you will see live
bed bugs (multiple life stages), fecal spots, molted skins, and
eggs. Look along mattress seams, in the tufts and under the
mattress tags, behind the headboard, inside the holes for set-in
screws, along wood creases in the box springs or in bed frames,
where the box springs fabric is stapled to the wood frame, behind
any loose wallpaper, behind chipped paint, under the base of the
air conditioner, beneath the wood framing that holds the bar in
the closet, along the interior frame of closet doors or window sills,
inside curtain rods, and on the curtains near the top where they
are pleated, behind baseboards, behind the electrical outlets and sockets, in personal
belongings, books, stuffed animals, picture frames and hundreds of other locations.
Bed Bug Prevention
Bed bug infestations are becoming more common in the Louisville Metro community.
There are steps that can be taken to prevent bed bugs from infesting your home. Bed bugs
are great hitchhikers. They can move from an infested site to a new home by traveling on
furniture, bedding, luggage, boxes, and clothing.
The best way to prevent bed bugs is the regular inspection of your home for signs of an
infestation.
Check secondhand furniture, beds, and couches for any signs of bed bug infestation.
Inspect the items in the garage or another location away from your house. If you are
not sure you inspected properly, store it away from your home for a short time.
Be careful about what you purchase from the Craig’s List or other web sites offering
used or nearly new items.
Be careful with rent or rent-to-own furniture. Ask management if they have a system
for inspecting and treating returned or repossessed furniture.
Use a protective cover that encases mattresses and box springs and eliminates many
hiding spots. The light color of the encasement makes bed bugs easier to see. Be sure
to purchase a high quality encasement that states it is bed bug proof. Check the
encasements for tears and holes each time you change your bedding.
Reduce clutter in your home to take away hiding places for bed bugs.
Vacuum frequently to remove any successful hitchhikers.
If you live in a multi-family home, try to isolate your unit by installing door sweeps on
the bottom of doors to discourage movement into hallways.
Seal cracks and crevices around baseboards, light sockets, etc., to discourage
movement of bed bugs through wall voids.
More Bed Bug Prevention
It is very unlikely, though not impossible, that a bed bug infestation will develop in an
office, classroom, or other non-residential environment, such as a department store.
These sites can serve as transfer hubs for bed bugs to hitchhike a ride into your home.
Follow these suggestions:
Visitors: Visitors to your home can bring bed bugs with them. Be particularly cautious if
they have traveled recently or if they live in multi-family dwellings. This includes college
students coming home for visits. If family members are not insulted, run their clothing
through the dryer before they settle into the house.
When you are out: Be careful when in areas where bed bugs are most likely to be
found, which include break rooms, storage areas (coat closets or cubbies), offices or
lounges with upholstered furniture, or areas where people may rest.
Used clothing: When you get home and before wearing any thrift store or garage sale
clothing you have bought, wash the clothing and put in the dryer for 30 minutes.
New clothing: New clothes should be inspected before you take them into your home.
At the Laundromat: A dryer on high heat can kill bed bugs in all stages.
1. Transport laundry items to be washed in plastic bags.
2. Inspect any chairs in the seating area of the Laundromat before sitting.
3. If you have an active infestation, use a new bag for the journey home.
4. Remove clothing from dryer and put directly into a bag and fold at home.
Your job: If you have a job where you must visit other people’s homes, you could bring
bed bugs home with you.
1. Do not take items you do not need into the home. Keep your computer or other
electronics in a plastic tote or special carry bag (keeps bed bugs out).
2. Do not sit on upholstered furniture; sitting in the kitchen on a hard chair is better.
3. After leaving the home, inspect yourself and the items you carried into the home
for bed bugs.
4. Most professionals that visit client homes wear dedicated clothing and shoes that
they change out of and then bag. When they go home, the bagged clothing is
washed and run through a hot dryer for 30 minutes.
Bed Bugs and Traveling
One of the most common ways to be exposed to bed bugs is during travel. Bed bugs
could be in your hotel room, in the trunk of a taxi, the luggage compartment of a bus or
even in the baggage handling areas of the airport. Inspecting your hotel room and your
luggage when you get home are two ways to stop bed bugs from getting into your
home.
Luggage: Consider using a duffel bag for traveling instead of a suitcase. Duffel bags
can be run through a dryer when you get home.
Check your hotel room: Put your luggage and belongings in the bathroom while
you inspect the room for bed bugs.
Headboard: Hotel headboards are often hung on the wall with hooks fastened to the
wall. It is the most likely location where bed bugs will be found in a hotel room.
Lift up the headboard, lay it face down on the bed and examine the back carefully,
especially where there are grooves, cracks, or screw holes. Use your flashlight and
examine the hooks on the wall. Use a small penknife or plastic card (credit card) to
run through small cracks you find. If you do not find anything, put the headboard
back on the wall.
Bed: Remove bedding, look carefully at the head of the bed and examine for bugs
and fecal droppings. Because bedding is changed with each guest, you are not likely
to find bed bugs here, but you will need to remove it anyway to get to the mattress.
Mattress: Examine the mattress and pay special attention to rounded corners, near
the cording. Examine the mattress tag. Lift up the mattress from the bed and
carefully check for bed bugs and spots between the mattress and box springs.
Changing rooms: If you find bed bugs or their fecal droppings, you should ask the
management for a different room. Ask for a room on a different floor. If the hotel
says no other rooms are available, you should not stay there.
Ready to settle in the room: If everything looks okay, it is a good idea to take the
following precautions:
1. Do not place your luggage on the carpeted floor.
2. Use the top of the dresser, a table, luggage racks, or store your luggage in the
bathroom overnight.
3. Hanging clothes can be placed in a garment bag or dry cleaner bag and hung in
the bathroom.
4. Be careful where you place camera cases, computer cases, purses, or backpacks.
Do not store them on the floor and especially not near the bed.
When you return home: Unpack your suitcases outside the house. Carefully look at
everything you unpack for signs of live bed bugs, fecal marks, blood stains and eggs.
Remove clothing from luggage and place in a plastic bag and seal with a twist tie.
Small items like a shaver, makeup, combs, and brushes can be placed in plastic
zippered bags when you travel so checking them is easier when you get home.
When you are ready to do your laundry, take the bag directly into the house to the
laundry room. Remove clothes from the bag and immediately place them in the
washer and wash as you normally would and then dry on high heat for 30 minutes.
Immediately discard the plastic bag in an outside trash receptacle.
If you travel a lot, you may want to invest in a portable mobile heater for suitcases
and other items that cannot be washed or dried. These devices surround the items
and heat them to 120°F for up to six hours.
Early Bed Bug Prevention
Pull the bed away from the walls. Wash and dry all bedding once a week. Light
colored bedding will allow you to see the signs of bed bugs, such as fecal spots.
Remove bed skirts and any bedding that touches the floor which gives easy access for
bed bugs to climb up into your bed.
Check monthly for signs of bed bugs on your mattress, box spring, bed frame and
headboard.
Vacuum floors, mattress, box spring, bed frame and headboard often.
If you have the money, protect your mattress and box spring with special bed bug
proof encasements. Both mattress and box springs should be encased, but the box
spring encasement is very important because more bed bugs will live there. Mattress
and box spring encasements should made of fabric because plastic encasements can
rip easily. The encasement should have a special zipper that locks or is covered to
keep bed bugs out.
Keep clothes off the floors so bed bugs do not end up in your dresser drawers.
If you have an upholstered headboard or a headboard with lots of scroll work and
detailing, check it frequently for signs of bed bugs.
Bed bug monitors when used properly are great for determining whether or not a small
bed bug infestation has been eliminated. * Passive bed bug monitors
are interceptors placed under the legs of furniture to catch bed bugs
and keep them from climbing the legs. There are many commercial
and do-it-yourself versions available.
* Active bed bug monitors attract bed bugs by releasing heat,
carbon dioxide and/or a scent lure.
I have Bed Bugs... What to do
Climb Up passive monitor
If you find a bed bug in your home, isolate the location where the bed bug was seen.
Catch the bed bug and put it in a jar with a lid for positive identification
If bed bugs have been identified and you rent, talk to your landlord. Check your rental
agreement to see who will be responsible for getting rid of bed bugs.
Call a qualified and experienced pest management professionals (PMP) to do an
inspection. The PMP will use integrated pest management (IPM) techniques to apply
insecticides and other non-chemical methods to get rid of bed bugs.
Comply with all of the directions for preparing your home for inspection and treatment.
These are actions you must take to help get rid of the bed bugs.
Do not move to another room to sleep, bed bugs will follow and infest the new room.
Use a good vacuum cleaner to suck up all the live bed bugs you see. This is a very
important step in reducing the bed bug population right away.
Bed bugs can be found in the cracks and crevices in and around the bed. Use your
vacuum crevice tool to vacuum bed bugs you find in the mattress, box spring, bed rails
and headboard. Vacuuming should be done weekly or even more until the bed bugs
are gone.
After vacuuming, immediately place the vacuum bag in a plastic bag, seal it, and
throw it in an outdoor trash receptacle.
Look for the signs of bed bugs in other places where they hide such as the space
where the carpet and baseboard meet at the wall, vacuum this area thoroughly.
Remove electrical outlet covers; if you find signs of bed bugs, carefully vacuum.
Heavily infested mattresses, box springs, and upholstered furniture may need to
be removed. When removing these items, you must completely wrap the item to
keep bed bugs from falling off when carrying these items out of your home.
Mark the furniture so someone does not pick it up.
Get rid of extra clutter in the bedroom. You need to start doing this when you know
you have bed bugs. Clutter near your bed provides hiding places.
Place items to be discarded in heavy plastic bags so you do not spread bed bugs to
other locations in your home. Do not reuse these bags.
Any item that has been in the bedroom or in an infested area could have a bed bug
inside. Bed bugs have been found in shoes, purses, billfolds, cell phones, computers,
clock radios, curtains and pictures on the wall.
Start bagging washable clothing and bed linens to launder them. Washing and drying
kills bed bugs. Wash in hot water and dry clothing for 30 minutes on high heat.
Laundry does not have to be done all at once, but you must do this methodically so
you don’t put clean (bed bug-free) clothing back into dresser drawers where bed bugs
might be hiding.
Shoes can be placed in a dryer, although it will be noisy. If your shoes have laces,
you can tie them together and catch the knot in the dryer door, with the shoes
inside the dryer. It will dry them without the noise. You can dry leather shoes and
other items in a dryer with a drying rack.
If you have a garage or another place away from your home such as rental storage
unit, you can take bagged items from the bedroom to this area. Items must be
treated and all bed bugs removed before you return them to your home.
Computers, cell phones, other electronics often cannot be run
through a washer or dryer. You could place these items in a
sealed plastic bag with Nuvan™ Prostrips. This product has
been tested and is effective against bed bugs.
Contact a pest control company to obtain this product
and follow all label directions!
Is this the way to get rid of Bed Bugs
Sometimes people promote dangerous or illegal ways to eliminate bed bugs through
internet sites, blogs, or word-of-mouth. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean
that it is safe, smart or effective.
What’s Legal, but Not Safe and might NOT even work!
Applying pesticides or repellants often used for cockroaches, ants and mosquitoes to
your body will NOT stop bed bugs from biting you and you could end up poisoning
yourself.
Mixing pesticides with other pesticides or ingredients can be very dangerous and is
unlikely to work well to kill bed bugs.
Applying pesticides to a bed, furniture, or clothing without checking the label to see
if it can be used this way. You could accidentally poison yourself or your family.
Buying pesticides from street vendors, flea markets or other unreliable sources. You
never know what you’re buying, whether it will work, or if it is safe.
Spraying over and over whenever you see a bed bug. This does not actually violate
the label, but it is unlikely to eliminate the infestation and can cause the bugs to
become resistant to the pesticide so it will no longer work.
Using pool or food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE) as a pesticide - this type of DE
can harm you when you breathe it in. The pesticide version uses a different size of
diatoms, which reduces the hazard. It must be applied while wearing protective eye
and respiratory devices .
Do-it-yourself heating treatments (such as space heaters, camp stoves, propane
heaters) which can quickly get out of control, causing fires in the home.
Using rubbing alcohol on your furniture – this compound vaporizes quickly, is very
flammable and has caused numerous house fires.
Do-it-yourself freezing treatments (such as freezers, fire extinguishers or opening
the home to cold air) – these methods will not kill bed bugs, it is not cold enough!
Using too many fogger products at once which could lead to a fire and/or explosion.
There are questions about whether foggers will kill all bed bugs in the home. Bed
bugs often hide in walls and the pesticide in foggers must come in contact with the
bed bug to kill it. If the fog does not reach where the bed bug is hiding, the bed bug
lives on to produce more bed bugs.
Hiring a pesticide applicator with no certification or little experience, one who does
not follow IPM practices and an applicator that does not provide a follow-up
inspection and repeat treatments. They may charge less but are far less likely to
achieve success.
Using carbon dioxide, propane, helium or other unregistered gases to fumigate bed
bugs, even if it's just in an enclosed bag. They are not registered and can lead to
dangerous low-oxygen situations or cause an explosion.
The Pest Management Professional (PMP)
No single insecticide will get rid of your bed bug infestation if used alone. PMPs will use
a variety of insecticides and non-insecticidal methods (IPM) to treat for bed bugs.
The PMP will give you instructions on what you must do with your laundry and may ask
that you reduce clutter in rooms being treated to improve the chances of getting rid of
the bed bugs.
Many PMPs will apply liquid insecticide sprays on top of areas where bed bugs are
crawling. After the insecticide dries, it will no longer kill bed bugs, so the PMP uses
other methods to treat the infestation and kill bed bugs (IPM).
Insecticidal dusts containing pyrethroids are often applied by the PMP in protected
cracks and crevices where there is very little risk of the dust drifting into open areas.
Your PMP may provide mattress and box spring encasements for your beds as part of
the treatment process.
Professional heating systems used to treat entire rooms and homes are often used by
the PMP but can be expensive. Rooms must reach 135°F and the heating process
continued for an extended time to kill bed bugs and bed bug eggs. Heat treatment has
no long lasting residual (lasting activity to continue to kill bed bugs). This means that
bed bugs can be re-introduced back into your home days later and you have the
problem again.
The PMP may use steam heat (115°F) to treat bed bugs in carpets, behind base boards
and on your upholstered furniture. Steaming is slow, methodical work that takes time
and patience.
The PMP may use cold in the form of pressurized carbon dioxide snow to freeze bed
bugs. The CO is blown out of a pressurized cylinder through a nozzle that forms vapors
to penetrate baseboards, bedding, box springs, the furniture, other cracks and crevices
where bed bugs hide. This process requires patience and will not eliminate a bed bug
infestation if used alone.
Remember ...
Over-the-counter products claiming to be “green” or safe may not be very effective
against bed bugs. Not all of these products have been tested against bed bugs. You
should choose a product that has been labeled by the EPA for bed bugs.
Do not use any insecticide product that is not labeled for indoor use.
Do not buy or use boric acid. It does not work for bed bugs. Boric acid is a stomach
poison. Bed bugs cannot ingest it. They feed on blood!
Do not even consider using a chemical that does not have an insecticide label.
There have been reports of fires started when flammable liquids have been used.
When using any insecticide : Read, understand, and follow label directions!
Use personal protective equipment as the label directs. Wear long sleeves, pants, and
shoes. Keep insecticides out of the reach of children.
There is no silver bullet for eliminating bed bugs. Long-term control of bed bugs
requires that non-chemical methods be used in combination with insecticides
as part of an integrated bed bug management program. It also means that we
must learn about bed bugs and teach others to prevent bed bug infestations.
Division of Environmental Health
and Emergency Preparedness
Public Facilities Program 502-574-6650
www.louisvilleky.gov/health
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