Bed bugs creep into Kansas City in places that will surprise you

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - The small brown bug that looks like an apple seed is easy to see but easy to miss and the numbers of bed bugs are growing exponentially in Kansas City. Michele Vance of Schendel Pest Services says nationally, calls to remove bed bugs are up 500% but it is more than that in Kansas City and the bugs don't discriminate.

"Most people associate having bed bugs with filth but that's just not true," says Vance. Called notorious hitch hikers, bed bugs are only attracted to warmth and can be picked up and carried extrememly easily by anyone.  "If you have bed bugs, it is not your fault," says Vance. "You have not done anything to invite this infestation other than be in the wrong time."

They hide in mattresses 80% of the time, but can also be found on luggage racks in hotel rooms or often on anything within a two feet radius of the bed from clock radios to cell phones or laptops. Any place people congregate can be a place to spread these bugs. If a college student unknowingly has them in their dorm room and uses their laptop on their bed. There is a good chance bed bugs will get inside the laptop and will later spread when the student takes that laptop to a common area or library.

Even a local library has fallen prey to the bugs, according to Vance. She adds they have treated bed bugs on both sides of the state line from Leawood to the northland and southern suburbs of Kansas City. "An entire apartment building on the plaza had to be evacuated," she said. She adds dorm rooms, private homes, apartments, and luxury hotels have all had problems around Kansas City.

To look for bed bugs at home, check your mattress.

"So you're going to want to look at the sheets, look around the tufts of the mattress and the seams of the mattress," says Vance. "You're going to want to look for tiny little bugs that are flat and brown about the size of an apple seed. They are visible to the naked eye, they're not like a dust mite. You can see them."

 The most effective way to treat them is called Thermal Remediation. A machine heats the affected room(s) in your home to up to 120 degrees for 3 to 5 hours, destroying the bed bugs inside. These heat treatments can range from five hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Many industry professional credit the 1970's ban of pesticide DDT with the bed bug growth.

"DDT was the one material that really took care of the bed bug problem," says Vance. "Since then, they have slowly come back."

Certain mattress covers are also an effective way to stop bed bugs from getting in the mattress, but they only prevent them.

Schendel is also hosting a free Bed Bug Boot Camp open to the public on September 28th from 1-4 pm. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn in Overland Park at 87th streets and I-35. It is open to everyone but is geared to managers of multi-family housing facilities as well as hotel and health care professionals.