DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — When bed bugs bite, don't rest tight, pest control experts and health officials say. Take action immediately.

"If you suspect you have bed bugs, keep the bug and call a pest control company. Most will do a free inspection," said Tony Bohnert, an entomologist and technical specialist with the pest control company Terminix.

Bed bugs are on the rise in the Dayton area, as well as in rest of the United States. In Cincinnati, it's gotten so bad the city has established a bed bug hot line and a bed bug furniture pick-up program. And just this year, two of its state lawmakers introduced "bed bug" bills in the Ohio House that would increase bed bug awareness, education and prevention.

Health officials in Montgomery, Miami and Warren counties say they're not formally tracking the number of bed bug complaints they receive, but they've noticed a "definite uptick."

"We're looking at at least one motel complaint a week and we're getting several calls a month from apartment complexes," said Daniel Collins, environmental health director for the Warren County Combined Health District.

Calls started coming in late last year, Collins said, and "this year it's just been real crazy. It's definitely a problem."

Miami County Health Commissioner James A. Luken said he's received three bed bug complaints this year.

But in Greene County, "we're just not seeing it," Health Commissioner Mark McDonnell said.

The good news, health officials say, is the bugs aren't believed to carry diseases.

"It's a heckuva nuisance, they can make a person miserable, but they're not thought to transmit communicable diseases," said Mark Case, environmental health director for Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County.

How to identify the little buggers

Experts believe increased international travel (bed bugs like to hitch rides in luggage) and the elimination of powerful pesticides such as DDT are to blame for the bloodsuckers' comeback.

The common bed bug is a reddish-brown insect that doesn't grow much longer than 0.2 inches, about the size of an apple seed. Flat and oval-shaped, the bugs are active primarily at night when they feed on their sleeping hosts.

The best way to check for the pests is to look for clues they leave behind on mattresses and upholstered furniture — blood stains and fecal matter. And if that's the case, call an exterminator. Over-the-counter pesticides aren't effective.

"We generally recommend folks work with a licensed pest control operator," Case said. "This is not an issue that can be resolved quickly."

Besides the home, Terminix's Bohnert said bed bugs can be found in movie theaters, hospitals and college dorms, "any place that people are going to live or spend an amount of time sitting, sleeping, relaxing, lounging around."

Cleanliness has nothing to do with it, Bohnert said. Everyone's at risk if precautions aren't taken.

"I've seen bed bugs in very, very nice houses," he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7408 or agottschlich@DaytonDaily

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