| Dogs, heat used to combat bed bugs in Bristol BRISTOL, Tenn. Chappell and his employees were expected to carry out work at the housing unit this weekend. Scyphers said he believes the treatment will work if residents cooperate and follow some instructions on ways to prevent further infestations. "I think we are on the right track," he said. He said the company purchased the dog and heat equipment about a year ago and has been doing a brisk business. Chappell said his is one of the only companies in the Southeast to use the heat technique. When human beings settled in caves, the bed bugs were thought to have used bats as hosts. When the bats left the caves because of human presence, the bed bugs switched to humans for food. "We moved the bed bugs out of the caves and transported them around the world," Miller said. She compared bed bugs to human fleas. They bite humans and live off the blood. The bite often produces a small infection similar to a mosquito bite. In the U. , DDT was used to kill bed bugs in the 1940s and 1950s and basically eradicated them. The warm air dries out the bugs, and they die almost instantly, Kinch said. He said some pest-control companies do not treat bed bugs because of the high failure rate with insecticides. "Six days later, you are right back where you started," Kinch said of chemical treatments. "For the most part, it is effective at getting the bed bugs," Miller said. Kinch said the only potential damage caused by the heat is to electronic equipment and it is removed before the treatment. Miller said people are just going to have to learn to live with bed bugs. They are not going to be eradicated anytime soon. At Fort Shelby, 12 of the 92 units were infected. The authority has already spent $28,000 on efforts to eradicate bed bugs inside the complex, mostly using insecticide, but the persistent bugs always came back. "It's a nationwide and worldwide resurgence of bed bugs," Miller said. She said she did not see a bed bug in the lab until around 2002, and has only been actively studying the issue for five or six years. The insects feed on human blood and prefer couches and beds, anywhere that humans live. "They are blood-sucking cockroaches," Chappell said. Miller said humans and bed bugs have lived together for thousands of years. Taylor and Chappell were in Bristol, Tenn. , this week. The heaters take around three hours to warm the room and then huge fans are used to circulate the warm air. This gets the heat inside the cracks and crevices of the furniture. Hotels and apartments use the dog as a preventive measure, Kinch said. The dog searches all the rooms in a hotel once a month, making sure a room has not been infected. Miller said the heat treatment is one of several new techniques for treating bed bugs. Some people have criticized the heat treatment because it has the potential to cause structural damage to the building. The treatment is also expensive, which can rule it out for some. He isn't the only one confronting a bed bug outbreak. "It's a sore subject," said Steve Scyphers, the authority's executive director. In recent weeks, some residents have complained about the infestation, saying the housing authority isn't working hard enough to confront the issue. "I understand the residents are frustrated, but we are doing the best we can," Scyphers said. Apartment complexes will have the dog search a room after a unit becomes vacant. The company also works with cabin rental companies, schools and hospitals. While bed bugs are annoying, people cannot catch diseases from them, as opposed to mosquitoes and malaria. "There are so many bed bugs in the United States, half of us would be dead [if bed bugs spread disease]," Miller said. The treatment As the issue with insecticide-resistant bugs has increased, property owners have looked for alternative treatments. One of the most promising, and the one used at Fort Shelby, is heat. After Taylor finds a bed bug in an apartment, Chappell and his team bring half a dozen giant heaters and a power generator. He focuses on the edge of a cushion in the couch. Taylor sticks his nose into the couch between the cushion and stops. |
Sunday 11 March 2012
Dogs, heat used to combat bed bugs in Bristol
