Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

Bed bugs’ bite spreading in Arizona

CLEAN YOUR SHEETS: Bedbugs have drastically increased across Arizona and the nation this year. In Arizona alone, there are about 1 million people that actively have bedbugs. (Photo by Rosie Gochnour)
CLEAN YOUR SHEETS: Bedbugs have drastically increased across Arizona and the nation this year. In Arizona alone, there are about 1 million people that actively have bedbugs. (Photo by Rosie Gochnour)

Move to the side, vampires. There are new bloodsuckers in town.

A recent epidemic-like increase in reported bedbug infestations across Arizona and across the entire nation presents a health concern.

“Arizona is at about a 12 to 15 percent penetration rate,” said Tina Greco, account executive from Mesa’s Burn’s Pest Elimination. This means that, based on population, roughly 1 million residents actively have bed bugs, and act as bridges to the rest of Arizona’s citizens.

Greco and her company started noticing cases popping up in 2007, but it wasn’t until this year that they got “super, super busy.”

“The good thing is that they are not spreaders of disease,” Greco said.

According the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, bed bugs, despite not being carriers of disease, still have a variety of negative health effects.

Many people have mild to severe allergic reaction to the bites with effects ranging from no reaction to anaphylaxis, a reaction of the entire body. Mental health effects are also present when living in an infested home, and range from anxiety to insomnia, according to the CDC and EPA.

For some ASU students, such as exploratory sophomore Ashley Provenzano, it’s just another reason to lose sleep at night. The stress took a toll on her.

“I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in my own bed,” Provenzano said. “It was an awful experience.”

She moved into the Gateway at Tempe apartment complex in August. It was within the first week that she started noticing a pattern of bites emerging over her body.

“I saw one in my bed the first day I moved in, but didn’t know what it was, so I tried not to think about it,” Provenzano said. “Then I noticed bites when I woke up in the morning, and that’s when I knew something was wrong.”

She alerted management, and Gateway covered the entire cost of the inspection and extermination of bed bugs, she said. Management at Gateway would not comment on bed bugs in the complex.

But bed bugs were not a problem just for Provenzano.

As she began talking to other students, she found that several people knew someone who had experienced what she was going through.

“The United States is one of many countries now experiencing an alarming resurgence in the population of bed bugs,” the CDC and EPA said in an August statement.

Bed bugs are tiny, reddish-brown, wingless and blood-feeding insects that prey on humans. With their flat and small bodies, these insects are masters at hiding. Infestations occur around areas where humans sleep or spend a considerable amount of time, according to the statement from the CDC and EPA.

These “bed” bugs are inaccurately named, because they hide not only in the crevices of mattresses, but in places people all share, which leads to spreading.

“They are prolific hitchhikers,” Greco said. “They travel with a person.”

Bed bugs are generally known as hitchhikers. They attach themselves to peoples’ clothing, backpacks and other belongings, only to attach themselves to other people or places that people heavily use, such as couches or seats. This is how bed bugs spread to, and consequently infest, their victims’ living areas.

The exact cause of this notable emergence is not known. However, one of the chief causes suspected by CDC and EPA is the increased amount of domestic and international travel.

It’s no surprise, then, that New York City, a filter for international travelers, is being hit hard.

“They are at about a 60 to 70 percent penetration rate,” Greco said.

Greco warns that students should be aware and cautious of their surroundings while traveling, even within the city.

“Certain properties are having a bigger issue than others because of how communal they are,” Greco said. “People go in and out of each others’ homes simply not knowing that’s how they’re spread.”

This isn’t the first time bed bugs have been an international issue.

Major infestations emerged during the time of World War II, and they were effectively handled with the then-legal pesticide DDT until the early 1970s. The product was discontinued because of the harmful effect on animals and humans.

Burn’s Pest Elimination uses a canine unit for inspection, and a chemical treatment to eliminate these pests, while other companies offer alternatives.

“There’s a lot of responsibility on the resident,” Greco said.

If residents don’t follow tedious instructions for the before and after treatment, they could be battling bed bugs forever.

“My roommates and I had to stay up extremely late preparing for the extermination because there was a massive list of things to do the night before,” Provenzano said. “That affected school because I was so tired from moving everything out and cleaning.”

University Housing marketing specialist Eliza Robinson said the ASU community is more aware than ever. They have responded with various preventative measures in all the residence halls, such as using seamless mattresses made with Ventex, a fiber resistant to bed bugs.

If residents suspect they have an infestation, they need to inform all staff immediately so proper treatment can be completed, she said.

Reach the reporter at ktenagli@asu.edu

Want to get the latest ASU news in your inbox every day? Sign up for our new e-mail newsletter.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.