Bed Bug Thermal Heat Treatments Minnesota
Once a pest of the past, bed bugs now infest every state in the U.S. Abundant in the U.S. prior to World War II, bed bugs all but vanished during the 1940s and ’50s thanks to improvements in hygiene and the use of pesticides. In the past 10 years, however, the pests have made a big comeback worldwide.
This revival may be the worst yet, due to densely populated urban areas, global travel and increasing pesticide resistance—something to consider as the summer travel season gets underway.
In recent years, public health agencies across the country have been overwhelmed by complaints about bed bugs. They have not been shown to spread disease; but, their health effects include reaction to bites, loss of sleep, anxiety and depression.
They do, however, harbor human pathogens: At least 27 viruses, bacteria, protozoa and more have been found in bedbugs, although these microbes do not reproduce or multiply within the insects. Canadian researchers announced (pdf) in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases that bedbugs isolated from three individuals in a Vancouver hospital carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, aka MRSA. Still, there have been no reported cases that the bugs actually transmit human disease.
Bedbugs as Vectors for Drug-Resistant Bacteria
It’s also not clear whether the bacteria existed on the bedbugs or in them. That is, were the bedbugs carrying MRSA on their backs, or were the bacteria living and growing inside them? Either way, it’s bad news: if bed bugs are capable of carrying and transmitting MRSA the way a mosquito spreads malaria, it could mean a whole new vector of human disease.
DIY Pesticides Don’t Work!
Thanks to pesticide resistance, those cans of spray at your local hardware store simply will not do. When the controversial pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, most bed bugs were already resistant to it and today’s populations are even more widely resistant thanks to the use of a new class of pesticides. Pyrethroids, the main class of pesticides used against bed bugs today, targets sodium channels in bed bug cells, just like DDT. Consequently, as bedbugs develop resistance to pyrethroids, they also become cross-resistant to DDT.
DIY Or Hire A Pest Control Professional?
Worse yet, misuse of these sprays may lead to digestive problems, skin irritation, and may worsen asthma and allergies. People think if you can buy a pesticide at a supermarket it can’t be dangerous. That just isn’t true. Remember, that the “-cide” in pesticides means “to kill”. These products can be dangerous if not used properly. If not used correctly, they could be doing more damage than the pests. The most effective solutions are fumigation and thermal heat treatments. But this is a job best left left to a professional Minnesota Pest Control Expert. This non-chemical, non-toxic approach penetrates wall cavities, mattresses and other hard to reach locations to kill bed bugs.
