Bed bugs have almost certainly been pestering people for ever, particularly in warmer countries. In fact Aristotle wrote of them in 400 BC, but they were not widespread in the United Kingdom until after the Great Fire of London in 1666.
People believed that bed bugs lived in wood because the bed bug plagues only commenced after 1670. It is believed that the bed bugs that had come in with wood imported to reconstruct London.
And they have been there ever since, except for around fifty years between the 1940's and 1995. A similar pattern can be traced in most of the developed Western world, because after the Second World War there was a concerted effort to clear out the old bomb-damaged city slums and start again.
As they went through the cities clearing and washing they used tons of DDT which virtually wiped out bedbugs and some other common household pests.
The powers that were in the United States also went on the rampage with DDT with a similar result. Then something occurred and we can be quite precise about the date: in 1995 reports of bedbug infestations began pouring in again.
One region of London reported infestations of bedbugs doubling every year from 1995 to 2001 and the US National Pest Management Agency reported a 71% rise in bedbug cases between 2000 and 2005. A pest control company in North Carolina said that 25% of the hotels it surveyed between 2002 and 2006 had a bedbug problem.
Bedbugs feed by inserting two tubes through the host's skin, one pumps in a sort of saliva containing anticoagulant and anaesthetic and the other sucks blood. This saliva can cause irritation in individuals in the form of lumps, which may or may not itch. Having plenty of bites may result in anaemia.
The greatest danger most people run is secondary infection from scratching with dirty finger nails. In 2008, the World health Organization offered the opinion that there was some evidence that bedbugs might cause asthma and that being bitten often might make the victim more prone to other illnesses.
Bedbugs have all the right apparatus and behavioural patterns to be able to spread illnesses, but there have been no known cases to date. However, knowing that there are bedbugs about may cause individuals to be paranoid about them, which frequently leads to insomnia and tetchiness.
If you discover bedbugs in your motel, you should report it to the manager and if you live in rented accommodation you ought to tell the landlord. If it is your own place you should seek advice from the local Environmental Health Agency attached to the council, because bedbugs can spread from one household to the next very fast.
Numerous old terraced houses are not entirely sealed off from one another enabling bedbugs to travel and set up new colonies. Bedbugs can also be transported home from hotels in your suitcase or clothing. Bedbugs are a matter for public anxiety, but they are not life-threatening.
People believed that bed bugs lived in wood because the bed bug plagues only commenced after 1670. It is believed that the bed bugs that had come in with wood imported to reconstruct London.
And they have been there ever since, except for around fifty years between the 1940's and 1995. A similar pattern can be traced in most of the developed Western world, because after the Second World War there was a concerted effort to clear out the old bomb-damaged city slums and start again.
As they went through the cities clearing and washing they used tons of DDT which virtually wiped out bedbugs and some other common household pests.
The powers that were in the United States also went on the rampage with DDT with a similar result. Then something occurred and we can be quite precise about the date: in 1995 reports of bedbug infestations began pouring in again.
One region of London reported infestations of bedbugs doubling every year from 1995 to 2001 and the US National Pest Management Agency reported a 71% rise in bedbug cases between 2000 and 2005. A pest control company in North Carolina said that 25% of the hotels it surveyed between 2002 and 2006 had a bedbug problem.
Bedbugs feed by inserting two tubes through the host's skin, one pumps in a sort of saliva containing anticoagulant and anaesthetic and the other sucks blood. This saliva can cause irritation in individuals in the form of lumps, which may or may not itch. Having plenty of bites may result in anaemia.
The greatest danger most people run is secondary infection from scratching with dirty finger nails. In 2008, the World health Organization offered the opinion that there was some evidence that bedbugs might cause asthma and that being bitten often might make the victim more prone to other illnesses.
Bedbugs have all the right apparatus and behavioural patterns to be able to spread illnesses, but there have been no known cases to date. However, knowing that there are bedbugs about may cause individuals to be paranoid about them, which frequently leads to insomnia and tetchiness.
If you discover bedbugs in your motel, you should report it to the manager and if you live in rented accommodation you ought to tell the landlord. If it is your own place you should seek advice from the local Environmental Health Agency attached to the council, because bedbugs can spread from one household to the next very fast.
Numerous old terraced houses are not entirely sealed off from one another enabling bedbugs to travel and set up new colonies. Bedbugs can also be transported home from hotels in your suitcase or clothing. Bedbugs are a matter for public anxiety, but they are not life-threatening.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous subjects, but is at present involved with how to test for bed bugs. If you want to know more, visit our website now at Pest Management at Home.
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