Bedbugs – The Newest Threat

 A new urban threat facing cities around the world is the bedbug that has become resistant to pesticides, scientists warn. Researchers from Ohio, US, have warned of future infestations. “The resurgence of bed bugs poses an urgent situation as infestations are rampant globally, nationally, and locally," the researchers wrote in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.

International travel, increased exchange of used furniture and the development of resistance among bedbugs to current pesticides, the researchers claimed, were the reasons behind the increase in these pests.

Often unnoticed, the bugs have infested even luxury hotels in US cities. Travelers must be specially alert to the tell tale signs – bites, blood on the bed sheets and their droppings that look like pepper. Experts recommend looking for them with a bright flashlight, and using a hot hair dryer to flush them out of hiding places and cracks.

"Everyone has got to get used to the idea that they have got to check for them periodically," New York City environmental health commissioner, Daniel Kass, said.

Source-Medindia