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It’s amazing how the tiniest pests can create the biggest problems.
Take bed bugs, for example. These nasty diminutive parasites are among the most persistent and indestructible on the planet. Because of their tiny size, bed bugs are able to get into the smallest crevices and cracks. Here, they will breed and live out of your reach. It is virtually impossible to rid your home of bed bugs using physical means like pesticide application and surface scrubbing.
Remember, one must not take risks when treating a bed bug infestation. When it comes to combating these little pests, you’ll need to bring out the big guns. Ask help from a pesticide professional who know how to treat and control your trouble with bed bugs.
Itchy Bites and Disease
Health organizations around the world will attest that bed bugs pose no real danger, nor do they spread disease. Even though a bed bug bite will leave saliva under the skin of the host, these bites do not transfer or cause any types of disease. This fact separates the bed bug from other bloodsucking insects like mosquitoes, which transfer dengue, malaria and a host of other ailments.
However, there is a definite downside to receiving a bed bug bite. The skin will be itchy and irritated, with marks at the affected area. Bed bug bites may look similar to those caused by other insects, like mosquito bites. Other people who have been bitten by bed bugs will suffer with blemished skin. Repeated bites will result in plenty of wounds. Other people will suffer with allergic reactions that may lead to more serious skin irritations.
Even though bed bugs may not pose any serious health problems, the itchiness and irritation of the bites themselves, and just the sheer discomfort of sleeping in an infested bed, should be reason enough to seek treatment and rid your home of these pesky critters.
Plan Your Attack
If you plan to treat the bed bug infestation on your own, your initial step should be to develop a thorough and carefully planned strategy. Just remember; this is war, after all.
Most of the time, bed bugs living inside the bed can never be treated or efficiently eradicated. The insects are so small that they’re able to creep into the tiniest openings, folds and holes in the mattress and bed frame. Pesticide treatments are almost always futile in assuring the total eradication of bed bugs.
Call in Reinforcements
The best method to deal with bedbugs is to call a professional pest control service. Before calling, however, you must prepare yourself for the inevitable instructions to dispose of certain furnishings, accessories or equipment in your home that may be providing a living and breeding ground for bed bugs.
You may be asked to dispose of your mattress, bedding and even bed frames. However, it may not be as easy as simply kicking these things to the curb. Ridding your home of an infestation of bed bugs does not give you the right to abandon the protection of your neighbors from these parasites. Carrying your infested mattress to the waste disposal bin of your apartment building will put all other occupants at risk.
The safe and proper disposal of infested items, indeed, can take great care and attention. At times, the infested items must be burned. Smaller items can be sealed in plastic bags to prevent the transfer of bed bugs to other locations.
Adult bed bugs can live for nearly a year without nourishing. Therefore, if the infested items are not burned, they should not be exposed to or stored in close proximity to potential hosts, including pets and humans.
Once the infested accessories and furniture have been removed from the room, you’ll need to thoroughly clean the entire area. Again, professional assistance may be required to rid the room of any remaining eggs or insects.
True, An Ounce of Prevention
Generally, they say that the best cure is prevention. Basic hygiene and cleanliness are the first steps to prevent the accumulation of bedbugs.
When you travel, try to be sure that the hotel rooms you stay in are bug-free. Otherwise, your may travel home with some unwanted stowaways in your luggage or clothing.
At home, consider having regular room checkups conducted by a pest control professional. These experts know more about infestation than you do, and they can inform you on determining whether your home is infested. If bed bugs are present, they will immediately start a treatment plan to rid your home of the insects.
Simply picking up and moving to another room, or even another house, is not an option. The infestation affects not the room, but the furniture. When you carry a bedside table, bed, trunk or cabinet into another room, you’re taking the bugs along as well.
Knowing about bed bugs is the first step to preventing an infestation from happening. If you are able to acknowledge the indications, you can deal with the problem at the first sign, and seek professional help before the situation gets worse. While these little pests can cause a big headache, it’s a concern that you can certainly overcome.
Tagged with: bed bugs control • pests control
Filed under: Bed Bugs