According to ABC World News, at least five states are seeking assistance from the Department of Defense for help with the growing presence of bedbugs in this country, and Ohio just asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for special permission to use a banned pesticide to eradicate the growing problem of bedbugs in this country. Half a century ago the United States had nearly eradicated the insects; however, the ban of the use of powerful pesticides like DDT, as well as reduced use of narrow spectrum products targeting specific pests, have enabled the insects to survive, thrive, and build pesticide resistance. The growing problem with bed bug infestations has been linked to increased travel. The US Centers for Disease and Prevention are reporting that the US is experiencing what is being described as an alarming return of the tiny bloodsucking parasites. This is happening just as the EPA issued a warning against using outdoor chemicals indoors, because some chemicals adversely affect the central nervous system and can lead to skin and eye irritation and cancer. As a result of the new invasion of bedbugs, people who are experiencing infestations in their apartments are filing lawsuits.
According to WebMD, bedbugs are known to Biologists as true bugs. For the layman, this means they are wingless insects that are considered a parasite, meaning they feed on blood and nothing else. Bedbugs are flat and oval, about ¼ inch in diameter. They look like a small lentil. The vermin are brownish in color, but take on a rusty mahogany color after a blood meal. Close up they are covered with microscopic hairs that give it a banded appearance when it’s engorged with blood. Newly hatched bedbugs are light tan, translucent and hard to see. Bedbugs don’t actually bite but suck. They are equipped with a long, sharp, thin, hallow spike-shaped beak used to pierce the skin. Once they pierce the skin, saliva containing an anticoagulant that keeps the blood from clotting is injected so that they can feed. It may also contain a mild anesthetic. Most people don’t feel the bug feeding. You know you’ve been a pierced by when an itchy red dot with a lighter red ring around it appears on your skin. There will often appear one or more straight lines of these bites on your body, which means more than one bug has pierced your skin. Scratching bed bugs can lead to secondary infection. The good news is bedbugs are not known to transmit infectious diseases.
A common misconception people have is that bed bugs are invisible. They reason they seem invisible is because they only come out night. During the day they hide in bedding, creases of a mattress, bed frame, or in tears in the wallpaper. They also hide behind pictures and baseboards. They can end up travelling quiet far and manage to get into books telephones, radios e and attach themselves to clothing. They don’t fly, but they can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings, and they can infest other rooms if you don’t catch them early enough. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime. The earliest sign of bedbugs, other than physical symptoms, is blood on the sheets, as wounds from bedbug bites bleed a little. And bedbug excrement is a liquid that appears as darker spots on the sheets. If you’ve got lots of bedbugs, your bed will have the distinctive sickly-sweet smell that bugs give off. Be aware that their breeding patters are pretty rapid, a single female bedbug lays 10 to 50 eggs every three to 15 days. The sticky eggs are laid near where they hide. If they feed regularly, bedbug nymphs become adults in two to six weeks.
If you have experienced a bedbug infestion, please contact our firm for a free consultation. Our personal injury attorney has over 10 years experience fighting for the vicitms of negligent property and business owners. Becase many businesses and property owenrs prefer to settle bedbug lawsuits out of court to avoid public embarresment usually involved in these kinds of cases, you will want an qualified bedbug attorney to help you get the compensation you deserve.