10/29/10 Expert Dr Michael Potter On How To Beat Bedbugs

Reports of bedbug infestations have some of the nation’s college students “creeped out” and wondering which campus will ‘host’ the next outbreak.

Dr. Michael Potter, entomologist at the University of Kentucky and expert on pest control, says the threat of bedbugs in the United States is real and returning, after 50 years peace from the pests.

Bedbugs have built up immunity against less effective eco-friendly insecticides today and are not easy to get rid of. Chemicals containing DDT have caused health concerns and are no longer used. Preparing homes and rooms for cleaning is difficult. Instead of chemicals, heat is used to kill the pests. Fortunately, bedbugs typically infest a few rooms, not whole buildings.

Dr. Potter regards the return of bedbugs as an unwelcome nuisance rather than a surprise. High numbers of people in metropolitan areas increase the likelihood of bedbug infestation. Never before has there been such high movement of people from place to place or have people collected so much “stuff and clutter” as they have today, he said.

Is any place more cluttered than college dorm rooms?

Should Marian University students be concerned about bedbug outbreaks on campus? Bedbugs have turned up on other campuses, as well as in theaters, stores, and offices.

Yet Dr. Potter claims that in general, “People should be unconcerned about encountering bedbugs in those places.”

While annoying, bedbugs need not throw people into hysterics or unnecessary worry.
Students should know that bedbugs move by hitch-hiking on luggage or furniture. To survive, they crawl into cracks and dark places, such as the folds of sheets or the seams of mattresses.

According to Potter, at night these insects “the color of an apple seed and only slightly smaller,” emerge from their hiding spots to sup on their necessary dose of human blood, although they can live up to three months without feeding.

Bedbugs can survive in furniture other than beds, but they tend to stay there. Potter points out, “Why crawl further than you have to for your next meal?”

Dubbed the ‘perfect parasite,’ these “very efficient critters” bite you while you sleep, in the dark, and scurry away when finished. They do not remain on their hosts, and bites are painless. However, today’s America is not comforted by the thought of crawly creatures lurking under their covers.

Potter states, “We live pretty much vermin-free, especially in the developed world.” We feel entitled to clean living and are disgusted by the thought of insect invaders.

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