Pub. 1 2016 Issue 2

18 www.ctaahq.org 䌀吀䄀䄀 吀䠀䔀䌀伀一一䔀䌀吀䤀䌀唀吀䄀倀䄀刀吀䴀䔀一吀䄀匀匀伀䌀䤀䄀吀䤀伀一  Since about 2000, bedbugs have become an increasingly worrisome problem throughout the U.S. ey are a di cult pest to get rid of because they are small, don’t built nests, hide out during the day in hard-to-spot locations such as cracks, and only come out at night when they are hungry and ready to eat. Bed bugs eat human blood. However, it does not hurt to have a bed bug bite you. Sometimes you will see a red mark where the bug took a bite, and sometimes your skin will itch, but not always. As a result, you and your apartment residents may not notice immediately that a problem has developed. Bites and itching are a clue; so are small, red spots of blood on bedding. Small dark spots or stains and a slightly sweet smell are other giveaways. Bedbugs are not disease carriers, but it is possible to have an allergic reaction to their bites. People do not want to live in an apartment that has bedbugs, so it is important to deal with the problem as soon as you become aware of it. You will have a bigger problem to deal with later if you ignore them now. HOW BEDBUGS SPREAD To begin with, bedbugs are usually carried into their new home. ey might be hiding in luggage, for example, or in the belongings or furniture of a new tenant. If someone brings home used or recycled furniture, including mattresses, bedbugs might be along for the ride. Once bedbugs have infested an apartment, it is easy for them to spread to another apartment. is means that you should not assume the bedbugs are in only one apartment. You will need to check all of the apartments around the infected one, including any apartments above or below it. Treatment is only necessary if bedbugs have been found in an apartment, but if you do identify them in another apartment, then you need to check all of the apartments around that one, too. Checking for bedbugs in other apartments needs to consist of more than asking people whether they have a problem. One study of a 223-unit high-rise apartment building in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was conducted between December 2008 and April 2009, found that half of the residents who had bedbugs in their apartment had no idea the bedbugs were even present. • Of the infested apartments, 53 percent were next to an infected apartment, and researchers found that the bedbugs sometimes left through the front door and made their way down hallways to their new home. Walls and ceilings provide an additional path for the bedbugs to take. • More than three years after the rst infestation was identi ed, and despite pesticide-based treatment on a monthly basis, 45 percent of the apartments had been infected. WHERE THE MAJORITY OF BEDBUGS HIDE Bedbugs are most likely to be anywhere someone sleeps. In a typical infestation, therefore, 70 percent of the bedbugs can ABOUT BEDBUGS