 Hi, and welcome to this week's Wednesday webinar entitled Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite. My name is Jill Bates, and I'm eager to share information with you on this topic. This webinar will utilize resources from Dr. Jody Green, UNL Extension Educator and Urban Entomologist. Dr. Green has given me permission to include slides from her presentation, Getting Schooled Battle of the Bedbugs, that she presented at the annual School Health Conference in June 2017. In addition, I'll be referencing information included in the publications, dealing with bedbugs, and Got Bedbugs, Don't Panic, There Are Steps You Can Take. So let's get started. Well, we all know that bedbugs have been around for a long, long time. Why? They even made the lyrics of this song, which dates back to the late 19th century. Bedbugs were common up until World War II, but they weren't really seen the next 30 years due to the introduction of DDT. When I was growing up, my parents would frequently say, Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. Although it was a cute little bedtime saying, I truly had no idea what it meant because I had never seen a bedbug. Well, after the EPA banned DDT in the 1980s, bedbugs became much more prevalent. Since the year 2000, bedbug problems have just increased in the US. Why? Well, human bedbugs are found around the world and are spread when people travel. One possible reason for the resurgence is that today's bedbugs are hard to control. They have changed physiologically to survive chemical treatments with a thicker exoskeleton and increased enzyme levels that detoxify insecticides. A survey conducted by Bugs Without Borders indicated that bedbugs occur in all 50 states year-round in all areas. They're still on the rise and they're very difficult to control. If you look at the graph over to the side, you'll notice that among the top 13 places for bedbug infestations are hotels, motels, college dorms, and nursing homes. Places where lots of people sleep. So how do you identify a bedbug? Well, bedbugs are reddish brown and they don't have wings so they can't fly or jump. They are usually very flat except after they've just eaten and are filled with blood. And you can see that here. You can see the shape changed from the flatness to the full shape. They like human blood the best, but they can also feed on blood from dogs, cats, and other pets. Bedbugs can consume three times their body weight in a single feeding and this engorgement only takes from 3 to 12 minutes. During the day, bedbugs hide in tight places near sleeping locations like near beds or sofas. They come out at night to feed and find people by sensing the warmth of their bodies. Bedbugs usually bite on exposed skin of the neck, arm, and shoulders, but sometimes they also bite the legs and the ankles. Now some people are really bothered by this itchy red bite, but about 20 to 25% of individuals don't react at all. A female bedbug lays eggs individually and lays between 200 and 500 eggs in her lifespan. Now these eggs are glued to surfaces and they hatch after about 7 to 12 days. I think a really interesting fact about bedbugs is that they can live for months or even up to a year without food. So they can live in empty hotel rooms or empty apartments until people move in. So where do they live? Well bedbugs usually live in gaps, cracks, and other openings around the bed, usually within about 15 feet. However, they can crawl 20 feet during the night looking for a meal and then go back to their hiding spot in the mattress, the box springs, or on upholstered furniture. Bedbugs are also expert hitchhikers. They travel from one place to another in backpacks, clothing, luggage, books, and other items. Before we go any further, let's differentiate between a bedbug infestation and a bedbug introduction. Now an infestation is where there's a large number of bedbugs, usually in a place where people sleep almost every night and there's an unlimited food source which means that there are always people present. A bedbug introduction on the other hand is just a single bedbug or a small number, maybe just a few bedbugs that are dropped by a person who spent time in an infested place and then traveled to a location where no one sleeps, like a library or a school or possibly an office building. So in schools, infestations are very, very uncommon, however we might have a bedbug introduction because a bedbug may hitchhike to school from an infested home of a student or a teacher or some other school employee. And one thing to keep in mind is that bedbugs that hitch a ride into the school could be carried home by another person making the school a potential hub for the spread of bedbugs. So what do you do if a bedbug is found at school? Well, keep calm and communicate. If a bedbug is found on a student or someone else, it may indicate the bedbug came from their home. However, since bedbugs can crawl, it's also possible the bedbug was brought to school by someone else. So what are our next steps? If you see bugs or bites on a child or another person, discreetly remove the individual from the classroom so the school nurse or another qualified individual can examine the student's clothing and other belongings. Any bugs found should be removed and collected for identification. If a confirmed bedbug is found, contact the parents or guardian and consider sending home educational materials related to bedbug inspection and treatment. Students shouldn't be excluded from school and schools should not be closed. It's also important to remember the following. Don't overreact. Don't go crazy with the pesticides. Don't allow untrained staff to apply pesticides on school property. Don't use over-the-counter pesticides and never use outdoor pesticides inside a building. And again, don't close the school and don't exclude students who you suspect may have brought bedbugs. So what are you going to tell parents? Well if you have a positive bedbug ID, tell the parents about the sighting and provide information on bedbug control. Although bedbugs have nothing to do with cleanliness or socioeconomic status, there is still a stigma that can come with having bedbugs. Reassure the parents that having a bedbug infestation does not mean that their home isn't clean. However, students should limit the items they bring to school and store school supplies in protective boxes or ziplock bags at home. Backpacks, lunchboxes and other items that travel back and forth to school can be inspected daily, both at home and at school. We know that bedbugs don't discriminate based on age, gender, race, socioeconomic status or cleanliness. However, clutter does increase areas for bedbugs to hide, makes it difficult to do an inspection and it may be also more difficult to treat. So encourage people to regularly decrease the clutter in their homes and we're also going to want to reduce classroom clutter, possibly storing teaching materials in clear-litted boxes. We need to focus on regular cleaning of areas in school like lost and found areas, areas where kids may sleep, upholstered furniture and even wall-mounted items like pictures, clocks, mirrors and signs and be sure to vacuum regularly. There are a few tips that you can give to parents if an infestation seems to be a problem. They can be instructed to use a lint roller on upholstered furniture, car seats or the interior of their vehicles. They can vacuum up the bedbugs from carpet, mattresses, car seats and again upholstered furniture remembering to clean the vacuum and dispose of the vacuum bag or wash the container with soapy water. A trick to use recommended by Dr. Green is to cover the vacuum attachment with pantyhose so that the bedbugs will be trapped on the exterior of the attachment. They can also put clothing and bedding in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes. We know that regular sanitation and periodic inspections will help keep bedbugs away. I also wanted to mention that bedbugs can hit your ride on books. So if you notice dark, fecal spots, bugs or exoskeletons on a book, notify your librarian immediately. The book will need to be placed in a Ziploc bag and isolated from other books on the shelves. So what do you do if you're a traveler and you're concerned about bedbugs? Well, when traveling and staying away from home it's important to check your room for bedbugs. When you arrive, place your suitcase and bags on a hard surface like the desk or in the bathroom and then start your inspection. This is what you're looking for. Fecal spots, those dark spots that we mentioned before, shed skins or exoskeletons, blood stains. You may see bugs, either dead or alive, eggs or even bites. So look at the mattress as this is the most common area for bedbugs to live. You may also wish to check the box spring behind the headboard and any upholstered furniture that may be in the room. Don't forget to check the luggage holder. It's also a good idea to travel with a large plastic bag. You can put your dirty clothes in the bag as bedbugs are often attracted to the smell that we leave behind on our clothing. You can take simple precautions at home too. Reduce the number of items that you're transporting between locations. Keep your coats and your shoes and boots in a separate area. Use your home dryer regularly. Store your suitcases and other luggage away from your sleeping areas. Rest in plastic totes for storage. Regularly inspect your beds and your bed frames and talk to your house guests because we all know that bedbugs occasionally hitchhike. Finally don't even think about picking up used furniture even if it's free and sitting right on the curbside. So I hope you never ever have to join the Bedbug Club or need to call the Bedbug King. Hopefully the only contact you'll have with a bedbug will be as a hazard on the miniature golf course. Remember if you have further questions please check out the resources on the Nebraska Extension and Lancaster County website or contact me at ESU8JBates at ESU8.org. Thanks for watching and don't let the Bedbugs bite.