What is a Bedbug?A true vampire:
Feed at night
Feed only on blood
Need to be “invited in”
A female bedbugNote the round abdomen
Males are more oval in shape
Eggs are a little larger than a grain of sand, and white
Nymphs are clear when they hatch from the egg, and become darker as they feed and grow
Behavior
• Bedbugs are lazy.
• Bedbugs do not fly or jump. They walk and run to and from their host.
• Bedbugs spend most (about 95%) of their time hiding.
If they don’t fly, how do they get around???
• Hitch hiking in boxes, pockets and purses lets us carry them to new buildings (usually gravid females)
• Once in a building they spread on their own– Hide in pipe and wire chases and follow the utility
line to the next room (or the next floor)– Hitch hike on furniture, backpacks, and people
between rooms– Can literally walk under the door and down the hall
Bedbug droppings are mostly black, and found in or near tight cracks in a bedframe, couch, armchair, or other harborage
On fabric, droppings will resemble a mark from a “sharpie” marker
On hard surfaces, droppings will be raised, like Braille
Eggs are often found near clusters of droppings
Signs of activity
Treatment: Conventional
• Steam, Vacuum, Sprays, Dusts
• 4 service visits
• Lots of laundry bagged up to be hot laundered
• Targeted application to active areas
Treatment: Heat
Lethal temperature is 118 degrees F
Time consuming, but all done in one treatment
Very effective: heat reaches all areas of the room
No extra laundering necessary, minimal preps
Treatment: Heat
“Heat Fumigation”, or Hot Box
Good for “move-ins” to treat incoming belongings
Good for “spot treating” existing infested belongings
Stop the Spread!(don’t bring them home)
• Don’t expose yourself to bugs at work– Don’t sit in a room/common area– Bring in as little as possible to rooms– Change clothes at end of shift, seal in bag for hot
laundering
Stop the Spread!(don’t bring them in to work)
• If you suspect an infestation at home:– Launder work clothes in high heat– Keep them sealed in a plastic bag away from
sleeping areas– OR, leave them in or near the dryer until you leave
for work
Be aware that vehicles may be infested also
Stop the Spread!(work to work)
• Isolation of zones/infested areas
• Separate linen/garbage cars for each wing
• Bags for individual laundry
• Isolate incoming belongings for heat treatment in dryer
Inspection
• Look in the right areas– Favorite armchair– Wheel chairs and walkers– Don’t forget: they don’t want to be found!
• Identify the signs properly– Blood spot from squashed bedbug, or an open
wound?
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