Bedbugs Back in U.S. Beds

Pest Firms Report Uptick in Calls for Bedbug Busters

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Why Now?





Bedbugs in the Best Places







Is That a Bedbug?

Bedbugs are what biologists call true bugs. These wingless insects are obligate parasites. That means they eat blood and nothing else.

For the uninitiated, bedbugs are flat and oval, about 1/4 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 -- if you really want to know -- the critter is covered with microscopic hairs that give it a banded appearance when it's engorged with blood. Newly hatched bedbugs are harder to see -- they are light tan and translucent.

Bedbugs don't really bite. They suck. They're equipped with a long, sharp, thin, hollow bayonet used to pierce the skin. Saliva injected during feeding contains an anticoagulant that keeps the blood from clotting. It may also contain a mild anesthetic.

Most people don't feel the animal feeding. The first sign that you've been a bedbug's breakfast is an itchy red dot with a lighter red ring around it. There's often one or more straight lines of these wheals, marking where your body met the bed. Usually, more than one bug is to blame.

A common myth is that bedbugs are invisible. They're not -- but they only come out at night. During the day they hide in bedding; in creases in the mattress, box springs, and bed frame; behind pictures on the wall or in tears in the wallpaper; behind baseboards; and just about anyplace nearby. How far they get depends on how soon you discover them.


The earliest sign of bedbugs -- other than wheals on your body -- is tiny dots of blood on the sheets. That's because wounds from bedbug bites bleed a little. And bedbug poop is a liquid; it appears as darker dots on the sheets. If you've got lots of bedbugs -- and the little suckers are prolific breeders -- your bed will have the distinctive sickly-sweet, soda-pop-syrup smell that the bugs give off.

Speaking of breeding, a single female bedbug lays 10 to 50 eggs every three to 15 days. The sticky eggs are laid near the bugs' hiding places. If they feed regularly, bedbug nymphs become adults in two to six weeks.

Bedbugs and Disease

There's one good thing about bedbugs. No, really. It's this: They don't seem to transmit disease. Here's Ben Beard, PhD, chief of the bacterial zoonoses branch of the CDC's division vector borne diseases in Ft. Collins, Colo.

"There's no medical reason to worry about a bedbug bite, unless you are unusually allergic to them," Beard tells WebMD. "They have never been considered important in disease transmission -- or never incriminated. Some researchers have found that bedbugs can carry hepatitis B virus, but I'd say it isn't of any public health importance."

One of those researchers is Ann Silverman, MD, director of gastroenterology and hepatitis research at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., and assistant professor at Wayne State University.

Silverman somehow talked hepatitis B patients into allowing her to let bedbugs feed on their arms. The bugs became full of live hepatitis B virus. When bugs were liquefied and injected into woodchucks, the animals became infected.

"The question is, 'Can bedbugs transmit hepatitis B by feeding on one person infected with the virus and giving it to the next person?' At this point we just don't know," Silverman tells WebMD. "But people shouldn't get alarmed."

Even so, Silverman admits, while doing the research she had nightmares that her hepatitis-fed bedbugs got loose.

Similar tests showed that hepatitis C -- a totally different virus -- can't survive in bedbugs.


Bedbugs Begone

If you've got bedbugs, get rid of them. Now.

"From a public health and hygiene point of view, we shouldn't tolerate bedbugs," the CDC's Beard says. Bedbug infestations are not healthy at all."

Who you gonna call? Bedbug busters, say the professionals.

"This isn't something homeowners can do themselves," Mannes says. "They hide so well. Even with professionals it often takes two or three calls. You have to keep checking that they're really gone. You want to be sure. They can be under the carpet, the baseboards, in picture frames, electrical outlets. They can live for a year -- and multiply -- without a blood meal."

Mannes and Meek say that pest control companies can rid beds of bugs without having to use pesticide. But every crack and crevice of the rest of the room likely will need to be treated.

"Bedbugs can be very difficult insects to control," Meek says. "If you suspect a problem, don't put it off. Call a pro. And call right away, because that minimizes the discomfort and time it takes to properly treat your home."

To prevent getting bedbugs in the first place, Mannes offers a few tips to travelers:

  • At the hotel, pull the bed covers down at night. If you see something moving, or if you see spots on the sheets, move to another room.
  • Vacuum your suitcases before bringing them into the house. "That seems like overkill, but we do recommend it," Mannes says.
  • Don't relax your vigilance even if you're paying a lot for your hotel. "Many of our calls come from very nice hotels in places like Las Vegas, Orlando, and New York City -- tourist locations with lots of transient folks," Mannes says.

WebMD Health News


SOURCES: Cindy Mannes, director of public affairs, National Pest Management Association, Dunn Loring, Va. Frank Meek, BCE, national pest control manager, Orkin Inc., Atlanta. Ben Beard, PhD, chief, Bacterial Zoonoses Branch, Division of Vector Borne Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ft. Collins, Colo. Ann Silverman, MD, director, gastroenterology and hepatitis research, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich.; assistant professor, Wayne State University, Detroit.
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