if you watch Dr. Oz, you would have seen a bit about this creature.  As a kid I did not think they were actually real, I thought it was a saying of my parents. Guess not.

 Bed bugs are small, flightless, rust-colored parasites that feed on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded animals.  Adult bed bug  

Bed bugs were diminished to an historical footnote after their near-eradication in the 1950s, but they are re-emerging in a big way. At the EPA's National Bed Bug Summit in 2009, researchers decided that the parasite's revival is more appropriately termed a pandemic rather than an epidemic, noting its rapid spread across large regions and different continents. For those afflicted by the bug, humiliated and defeated by its persistence, many prefer to refer to the infestation as "house herpes." The United States has seen a 50-fold increase in bed bug infestations over the last five years, according to the National Pest Management Association. An entomologist told MSNBC, "It's like the return of the wooly mammoth," as many of his peers had previously never seen a single bed bug in their careers. The outbreak has affected most parts of North America and Europe, especially in urban areas. 

Researchers believe bed bugs have roused from a half-century of hibernation for two reasons:  the termination of the use of the pesticide DDT; and a rise in international travel. DDT, a powerful synthetic pesticide, was used widely in agriculture until a public outcry concerning its safety lead to a US-ban of the chemical in 1972, followed by international bans.

 
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2 Comments on Bed Bugs: Inspecting for the New "House Herpes"

OCT
21
2010

Yikes...scary...
1:15pm • #1

I dislike bugs to a huge extent, check out what else we have to say about them, tommorow.

till then make yours a great day!
5:37pm • #2


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Eragorn Northe

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