Bedbugs Spread Across US (caused by "international travel" hmmm - is that PC for "immigration"?)

AP via Yahoo News ^ | Feb. 13, 04 | AP via Yahoo

[churchillbuff]

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Bedbugs have bitten in 35 states, including Iowa, and continue to spread across the country, pest control experts say.

Bedbugs are tiny bloodsucking insects that smell like soda pop syrup and are shaped like apple seeds. They live in bedding or furniture, or hide behind baseboards and wallpaper.

They don't carry diseases, but they bite while you sleep, turning brownish-red after feeding on your blood.

Infestations are on the rise across the country in metropolitan cities with high travel populations, according to Orkin Exterminating Co.

Reports show a 300 percent increase in calls about bedbug infestation in homes and commercial buildings from 2000 to 2001 and 70 percent increases in both 2002 and 2003.

In Iowa, they have been sighted in Sioux City and Waterloo.

There are two major reasons for why bedbug sightings are increasing, Orkin spokeswoman Martha Craft said. One is that the ease of international travel has helped spread bedbugs from other countries to the United States. The other is that pest control methods have changed, she said.

In the past, Orkin would spray a chemical along the baseboards of homes, apartments or commercial businesses, said Orkin entomologist Frank Meek. That changed when the company started using heat and steam, which uses fewer chemicals, he said.

Meek encountered a bedbug firsthand in 1999 when he stayed in an Orlando, Fla., hotel.

"Preventing bedbugs is to know what to look for," Craft said. "People haven't seen bedbugs in a long time."

Bite marks usually show up as little red spots with a lighter red area around them. Unlike chigger bites that tend to be grouped in one area or pattern, bedbug bites can be all over.

Laura Jesse, an extension entomologist at Iowa State University, said it's tough to stop bedbugs from spreading.

"It's hard to find out whether infestation has been there or treated. But I'm sure they've been in and out of every town," Jesse said.

[TSgt]

This really bites.

[evolved_rage]

Bedbugs are tiny bloodsucking insects that smell like soda pop syrup and are shaped like apple seeds.

Is this about trial lawyer PACs???

[billorites]

Good nite...
Sleep tight...

[billorites]

[EggsAckley]

Ewwwww.........posting Michael Moore's pic was NOT necessary!

[Bikers4Bush]

Illegals, importing the blood sucking insects that americans don't want to import themselves.

[Doomonyou]

"Bedbug shown actual size"

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

(...............TROLL PATROL...on duty.........................)

(g)

[rector seal]

Yup, these are the guys that are the natural disease vector of smallpox. Without bedbugs, smallpox stops spreading. This is why blankets and bedding were necessary to spread smallpox among native americans in the 1800's.

[TomGuy]

Laura Jesse, an extension entomologist at Iowa State University, said it's tough to stop bedbugs from spreading.

The bugs were somewhat common in the early last century. Laura, how were they stopped then? And why are they spreading now? WE know the answers; YOU just don't want to admit them because they are so un-PC.

[Slicksadick]

[hobbes1]

Rats on the west side, bedbugs uptown ......

[EagleMamaMT]

Bump.

[Mamzelle]

Another reason not to like to travel---eeew---take a shower right before leaving for home, seal-pack dirty laundry in plastic and throw it in 140-degree laundry water at home. (A reason to keep your hot water heater turned on high).

Travel is beastly enough without beasts.

[ScarTissue]

"Reports show a 300 percent increase in calls about bedbug infestation in homes and commercial buildings from 2000 to 2001 and 70 percent increases in both 2002 and 2003."

I doubt this is caused by immigration. Look at the astronomical rate of increases in recent years. They are exponentially higher than immigration rates.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Alert! Alert!

Major bed bug outbreak predicted in Boston during 2004. Huge swarms of bed bugs have recently been reported moving toward Massachusetts.

[Rebelbase]

"I doubt this is caused by immigration. Look at the astronomical rate of increases in recent years. They are exponentially higher than immigration rates."

Too funny! If every illegal brings 10 bedbugs, then the exponential growth can be explained, But it will depend on if it is the African or European variety.

[kaktuskid]

Laura, how were they stopped then? And why are they spreading now? WE know the answers; YOU just don't want to admit them because they are so un-PC.

Because we used mass quantities of bug spray in the past (like DDT)...we use them selectively today!

[Drawsing]

This is why blankets and bedding were necessary to spread smallpox among native americans in the 1800's.

Easy solution: Sleep on the bare bedsprings.