A real nightmare: Bed bugs biting all over U.S.

More than 95 percent of exterminators across the country report infestations, new survey finds
by Lynn Bruno
posted July 26, 2010

Forget about fictional, glitter-skinned teen vampires. You’re far more likely to have your blood sucked by bed bugs.

The tiny, sneaky insects are spreading so rapidly across the United States that almost no region or area is unbitten, a new survey suggests. Calls to exterminators nationwide about bed bugs are up 57 percent nationwide in the last five years, according to a new survey by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky. More than 95 percent of 519 U.S. exterminators participating in the survey reported finding at least one bed bug infestation in the past year.

“Most cities have bed bug problems today,” says Michael F. Potter, University of Kentucky professor of Entymology and one of the co-authors of the study. "Any place you have a lot of people, or a lot of movement of people, you have bed bugs." the rest image