SLEEP TIGHT! THE BED BUGS MIGHT STILL BITE
Source: This is Leicestershire March 2008
As if pest control teams were not busy enough with rats and mice, now they are facing growing numbers of blood-sucking bed bugs.
Exterminators say they are being inundated with calls about the dreaded creepy-crawlies.
In four years, the number of infestations dealt with by Leicester City Council's pest officers has nearly doubled to 87 a year - or one infestation every four days.
Experts said the true figure could be higher as many people contacted private firms to get rid of the bugs, which thrive in mattresses, linen and soft furniture.
Furniture changing hands through charity shops and recycling centres, and milder winters have been partly blamed for the growing problem. Hotel and hostel managers are also being urged to check for bugs, which travel in clothing, suitcases and bags.
Anjum Sheikh, of 4 Seasons Environmental Services, off Uppingham Road, has been tackling infestations for 11 years. He said: "Over the past couple of years, I'd guess the number of infestations I've dealt with has gone up 50 per cent."
"It was fairly rare before and you'd see problems in Highfields and Belgrave, but now I'm dealing with it all over the place. People are pretty distressed when they call me up about it, but unfortunately there's not much you can do about it yourself."
"The bugs tend to feed off one person in a bedroom and it can be pretty bad. The cause has a lot to do with recycling - people are recycling furniture more, buying it from second-hand shops."
"The weather makes it easier now, too. There's central heating in every house and the warmer it is, the easier it is for insects to thrive."
The problem is adding to the workload of city council pest control teams.
Although sightings of rats and mice in homes across the city as a whole had fallen by about 18 per cent since 2005, parts of the city still face rising rodent figures. A spokesman for Leicester City Council's pest control team said: "Occasionally, a second visit is needed to get rid of bed bugs completely.
"There are a number of reasons for a gradual increase in requests for treatment. Warmer weather makes the conditions for breeding more suitable, and there is a possibility of a resistance over time to the insecticide used."
Ian Burgess is director of Medical Entomology Centre, near Cambridge, and studies bed bugs. He said more international movement of people and car boot sales in recent years could be blamed for the problem.
The city council has dealt with steadily rising requests for treatment since 2003/04, when there were 47 reports.
The council's £50 charge for treatment is not set to change under budget plans to cut the similar charge for treatment of mice infestations.
<< Back to Insect NewsPrint this page