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New Jersey Bed Bug Exterminator and Bed Bug Control Services

Do You Have Bed Bugs?

If you wake up scratching at an itchy row of red welts or cluster of bites on your arms, neck chest, or legs, you may have bed bugs. Dark brown or blackish smears or dots on sheets, bed linens or mattress covers are another possible sign of bed bugs. In a heavily infested area, you may actually see these tiny, nocturnal insects crawling in your bed if you turn on the light at night.

It's been decades since bed bugs were a problem in America, but changes in pest control regulations coupled with increased migration and international travel have caused bed bug infestations in the United States to increase dramatically in recent years, in fact an increase of 500% between 2000 and 2004, according to National Geographic News.

What Are Bed Bugs?

The common bed bug, Cimex Lectularius, has been a persistent nuisance pest throughout human history. Early Greek writings and medieval European texts mention bed bugs. References to bed bugs appear in the folklore and literature of many countries and cultures, including colonial America.

Entomologists believe that bed bugs evolved from cave-dwelling nest parasites that fed on birds, then mammals, most probably bats. At some point, these small, blood-sucking insects began to feed on cave-dwelling humans who carried bed bugs with them as they moved out of caves. Spreading with their human hosts across the continents, bed bugs are now found around the world wherever humans live.

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Why Are Bed Bugs a Problem Now?

Most Americans are unfamiliar with bed bugs. While bed bug infestations were common in the U.S. before World War II, widespread use of synthetic pesticides, notably DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane), during the 1940s and 1950s virtually eradicated bed bugs in most industrialized countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.

However, bed bugs remained prevalent in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. When safety concerns led the U.S. to ban the use of DDT in 1972, it opened the door for the resurgence of this prolific nuisance pest. The low cost and increased accessibility of international airline travel and influx of immigrants from third world countries where bed bugs are still prolific has exacerbated the problem.

Bed bugs are now found in all 50 states. Since 2004, bed bug infestations have been increasingly reported in homes, apartments, hotels, motels, schools, dormitories, fire houses, college housing, shelters, hospitals, long-term care facilities, cruise ships, trains, airplanes, office buildings, theaters, laundries, dry cleaners, and even taxi cabs.

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Are Bed Bugs a Health Threat?

Although bed bugs are naturally infected with 28 human pathogens, they are not known to transmit disease to their human hosts and are classed as a nuisance pest. Only about half of bed bug victims react to their bites, and many have delayed immune reactions with symptoms appearing three to 14 days after exposure.

Some people develop severe allergic reactions to the proteins in bed bug saliva, and many experience considerable psychosomatic distress. People who are frequently bitten can develop a sensitivity syndrome that causes constant agitation, nervousness, and sleeplessness. In chronic infestations, children may be susceptible to iron deficiency anemia.

How Do You Get Bed Bugs?

Small and nocturnal, bed bugs feed on the blood of their sleeping human hosts at night, hiding in tiny cracks and crevices near the bed during the day. Infestations are generally localized to sleeping areas, but bed bugs will travel through plumbing and electrical conduits, wall voids or heating/cooling vents in search of food sources.

Efficient hitchhikers, bed bugs are easily transported on clothing, luggage, backpacks, secondhand furniture, refurbished mattresses, and rental furniture. Bed bugs are not restricted by socioeconomic boundaries and are as apt to be found in expensive, high-class hotels as low-income apartments. Anyone exposed to an infested environment can transport bed bugs into their home.

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What Should I Do if I Think I Have Bed Bugs?

Their secretive nature makes bed bugs difficult to find and eliminate. Sometimes people mistake other insect pests for bed bugs. Bed bugs do not respond to typical household bug sprays which can actually spread the insects. Panicked individuals often spread bed bugs throughout their home by dragging infected bed linens or mattresses through their home to the trash. If you think you have bed bugs, your best course of action is to immediately call an experienced ChemTec Pest Control pest professional for help in exterminating this awful pest.

What Bed Bug Services Does ChemTec Pest Control Offer?

We have a comprehensive bed bug extermination program. Please visit our bed bug services page for all the details on what we do and how you can be prepared for a bed bug extermination service call. You can rest easy tonight and be bed bug free!

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