Prevent infestation with Bed Bugs

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As we travel more and more these days, bed bugs can easily travel with us. These pests can easily multiply and become an issue as they ca be carried in luggage, on clothes, or they can travel from one apartment to another, without us even noticing them.
Bed bugs are nocturnal insects. The night is the time to see them active and feeding, mostly in the hours before dawn. They usually hide during the day and emerge at night, being attracted by the CO2 we expire. To see bed bugs while active, you can use a use a red light or you can locate them by the black trails they usually leave on the clothes or bed linen. You can also find small drops of blood on your linen and clothes, as an evidence that the bed bug was feeding.

bed bugs cimex lectularius prevent infestation with

When traveling, always pay attention to your bed, mattress, carpet and closet. Leave your luggage in the bathroom until you thoroughly check your hotel room, as the bed bugs do not like the bathroom due to its lack of places where they can hide. Check the bed and the linen as these insects can be seen, being the size of an apple seed after feeding, or you can find tracks of their activity through drops of blood that remained on the linen. They can be found in a 15 meters’ area around the bed, so make sure you check the entire room, not just the bed. Also, try keeping your luggage in a closet, not on the floor, and even cover it in a plastic wrap, to be even better protected.

When returning home, wash your clothes, even those that were not worn, and keep in mind that if your clothes did come in contact with bed bugs, you should better boil them for an effective outcome.

Ways of preventing bed bug infestation

Vacuuming is one of the first actions you need to take in order to keep your house bed bug free. In this way, you can capture some of the insects, and should you also be using an insecticide, having a dust free house helps, as the insecticide will adhere better to the surfaces it gets applied on.
Washing your clothes at a higher temperature helps preventing the development of a bed bug population, as their eggs do not survive higher temperatures. Also, seal in plastic bags clothes that you seldom use. This way, the pests will not be able to reach them. Undress on a hard surface floor rather than on carpet if you suspect bed bugs are on your clothing. Bed bugs do not travel on people like lice do, so you’ll be able to wipe off the floor to capture any bed bugs that fall off the clothes.
Vacuum off luggage and items that cannot be washed. Hand wash other items with hot, soapy water. Use a brush to scrub items, especially where bugs and eggs may be hiding in the seams and folds. If you experience bed bugs, unpack your whole suitcase outside your home (like in a garage or on the fire escape). Pull out clothes and put them through a hot wash or dry cycle. Disinfect your suitcase with no-pest strips that you can drop into a garbage bag along with your emptied suitcase. Seal up the garbage bag and store it for two or more weeks. The pesticide will fumigate the area in the bag and kill any remaining bed bugs.
Vacuum the mattress of your bed, but still call a professional because the vacuum often won’t pick up all the eggs stuck in the mattress. Remember to empty the vacuum immediately, outside of your home.

When at home, you can also seal up your mattress in plastic bags and reduce the risk of infestation, as bed bugs will have a more limited access to your bed. You can also discard old plush toys or old books, as that is an environment where the pests like to dwell.
In the case of bringing used furniture in the house, be careful and check it thoroughly, wash and dry all soft furnishings, and avoid purchasing used mattresses.
The bed bugs like warm places, and being close to where people live, as they are attracted by the CO2 we breathe out and by the blood they feed on. They are known to enter laptops, netbooks, and DSL ports, which are also very portable objects that you might inadvertently carry around to other rooms and homes. Always be preventing when sleeping or visiting a different place, as it is very easily to carry a bed bug back home.

Better be preventive of bed bugs, as eradication is quite tiresome, as it frequently requires a combination of non-pesticide approaches and the occasional use of pesticides. However, as bed bugs continue to adapt pesticide resistance, researchers have examined on the insect’s genome to see how the adaptations develop and to look for potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited in the growth and development phases.

In addition to clutter inside your home, it is important to eliminate clutter outside too! Remove any animal habitats near, attached to, or inside the house, such as bat roosts or bird nests in the eaves, roof or attic, and exclude animals from entry. As long as you live a clean life and are on top of the issue once you suspect the smallest chance of infestation, you will probably be okay. and manage to get rid of the bed bugs from your house.

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