NOT SLEEPING TIGHT? BED BUGS RE-EMERGING AS A PEST TO WORRY ABOUT.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Sleep tight. The bed bugs aren't biting much in Los Angeles County - yet.

But the tiny, nocturnal bloodsuckers about the size and color of an apple seed and known best from a children's bedtime rhyme, are quietly creeping back into modern times, creating a buzz in pest control circles locally and nationwide.

Late last year, Orkin Exterminating Co., the second largest pest control company in the nation, reported treating five times the number of infestations compared to two years ago. Some major cities where the insects were found include Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York City and Miami.

In Los Angeles County, Orkin's commercial branches treated more than 20 bed bug infestations in hotel and apartment properties in 2003. So far this year, the company has performed four treatments for the insects in hotels and apartments.

Virtually unnoticed for about 50 years, bed bugs are re-emerging in hotel rooms, college dormitories, children's lockers, and even inside private homes.

Pest control professionals offer two reasons: a change in the specialized way pests are exterminated and an increase in global travel, both into and out of the country, said Cindy Mannes, spokeswoman for the Virginia based National Pest Management Association. About 5,000 companies worldwide are represented by the association.

``At about the time our soldiers came back from World War II, our industry was using broad spectrum products,'' Mannes said. ``Consumers had access to DDT that they used themselves. Now the consumer has demanded and the industry has responded to integrated pest management.

``We will work with the homeowner to find the food and water sources,'' she said. ``We'll use a bait or a gel designed specifically for roaches. We're putting the product where the pest is, not where the people are.''

The use of DDT was banned in 1972 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The result of the ban over time was the use of lower doses of pesticides targeted only on the pest seen, Mannes said, though the EPA does not believe that pesticides used today are ineffective.

``For each and every pesticide used, we do a full risk assessment and basically look at human health and ecological effects,'' said EPA spokesman and pesticide specialist David Deegan. ``I really don't think the pesticides used has resulted in ineffectiveness.''

An increase in global travel also has added to the resurgence of bed bugs, Mannes said.

``We're traveling overseas more, but the bed bugs are traveling with us,'' she said. ``Bed bugs are hitchhikers. It's not a sanitation issue because they don't pass on disease. You will find them at five-star hotels.''

Bed bugs are flat, tiny insects that in the daytime disappear into mattresses, sheets, behind bed boards, wallpaper and picture frames.

Their very survival is almost vampirical in nature.

Bed bugs come out to feed on blood at night, though they can live for a whole year without feeding. Attracted by breath and body heat, they will nestle in beds, feeding on their host. The result for the host is big, itchy welts.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services last year released a bulletin on bed bugs.

``Bed bugs have resurfaced as an important public health pest of not only housing institutions, hotels and motels, but multiple- and single-family dwellings as well,'' the bulletin reads.

``One of things we don't want to do is we don't want to scare people,'' Mannes said. ``We need to make people vigilant. They are not a sanitation issue and they are not carriers of diseases. They just itch.''

Locally, few pest control businesses have actually treated for bed bugs. Some even believe the whole issue is being blown out of proportion, when considering the other pest problems Los Angeles has, such as rats, ants, and Africanized Honey Bees.

``Bed bugs are usually few and far between,'' said Sam Baker, co-owner of Old Reliable Pest Control, based in Santa Clarita. ``We've seen them more in the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. Those cases had a lot to do with the mattress the customers had purchased.''

Baker said if anything should be of concern, it's the violin spider or brown recluse spider, which her company sees more of in Santa Clarita. The spider's bite is ``a lot like a drop of acid on your skin,'' Baker said.

Baker and others believe the increase in insects is related to the way pest control has been regulated.

``They've taken the proper pesticides away,'' he said. ``We're virtually using a fly swatter. We're going to have the diseases we had before.''

Gary Fisher, owner of the Newhall-Valencia Exterminating Co., said he recently received 15 to 20 calls about ``something biting people in their homes that seems to be invisible.''

It wasn't bed bugs, though.

``It's not turning out to be a bed bug situation but a flea situation,'' Fisher said, though he didn't rule out the possibility that there are bed bugs crawling toward Santa Clarita bedrooms.

``With our climate, we absolutely could fall under bed bugs coming,'' he said. ``But I think our population is pretty spread out here, and I think people are more likely to keep their homes clean. It's about cleanliness and how often we do our laundry.''

Mannes, the spokeswoman from the National Pest Management Association, said treatment of bed bugs should be done professionally.

``Finding them is difficult,'' she said. ``You need a thorough inspection - because they are so reclusive. And if you travel a lot, you might want to consider vacuuming the outside of your suitcase before you bring it in.''

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Bed bugs are blood-sucking insects that emerge to feed at night and by day disappear into bedding and room furnishings.

Photo courtesy of Orkin Inc.