We all know the Olympics will bring an invasion of foreign visitors to Salt Lake.
But will it also bring an invasion of blood-sucking creatures of the night?
We're not kidding!
It might.
But don't panic yet.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst explains.
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More About Bed Bugs
- The adult bed bug is a
wingless insect that is flattened from top to bottom.
- The adult is 1/4
to 3/8 inches long.
- Females lay about 200 eggs, usually about three or four a day, in cracks and
crevices in the floor or bed.
- Bed bugs feed only on blood,
principally that of man.
- They feed mostly at night.
- Bed bugs are not proven disease carriers in the U.S.
- They are spread mainly by
clothing and baggage of travelers and visitors, secondhand beds, bedding materials, furniture, and laundry.
- Bed bug hiding places may be recognized by black or brown spots of dried blood excrement on the surfaces where
the bugs rest.
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It's bedbugs we're talking about. You know, the little critters that bite you while you're asleep.
Utah health officials say they get only occasional reports of bedbugs. Not a big problem.
But a scientist in Florida says the little bloodsuckers may be the worst in 50 years, especially in hotels and particularly in cities that get lots of foreign visitors.
Entemologist Jay Karren has a bunch of bedbugs on ice in his freezer at Utah State.
They're wrapped up in a piece of bedding from a Logan apartment complex.
They had to fumigate the whole complex a few months ago. The bedding is infested with hundreds, maybe thousands of critters that do unspeakable things.
DR. JAY KARREN/UTAH STATE UNIV.: "THEY WILL FILL UP WITH BLOOD AND BE MUCH FATTER AND THICKER."
DR. JAY KARREN/UTAH STATE UNIV.: "ESSENTIALLY THEY MATE. THEY LAY EGGS. THEY DIE." REPORTER: "ALL OF THAT IN BED?" A: "YEP. YEP. THAT'S CORRECT."
They typically hide out and sleep in the daytime, so, while the maid is making up your bed, they may be snoozing in cracks or holes in the furniture.
But after you hit the snack, they may climb into bed with you for a midnight snack. They feel it, but you don't because they lather you with an anaesthetic saliva.
DR. JAY KARREN/UTAH STATE UNIV.: "SO YOU'LL HAVE BLOODY SHEETS, AND THEN YOU'LL START TO ITCH. YOU'LL START ITCHING WHEREVER THEY HAVE BITTEN YOU."
Utah health officials say they only occasionally get complaints. Salt Lake Valley Health Department has had only five calls in the last two years.
But a Florida professor who found a ten-fold increase in big city hotels, agrees Olympic travelers may bring them into Utah in their luggage.
Dr. Karren thinks the problem is more widespread than complaint data suggests. People bring bedding to him a couple of times a year, anonymously.
DR. JAY KARREN/UTAH STATE UNIV.: "BECAUSE IT'S SORT OF AN EMBARASSMENT FOR PEOPLE TO FIND OUT. THEY DON'T WANT TO TELL ME THEIR NAME OR ANYTHING. I SAY, 'IT'S A BEDBUG.' THEY SAY 'OHHHHH.' AND THAT'S ALL YOU GET FROM THEM."
Dr. Karren says that bedding usually comes from private homes, not hotels.
And as far as we can tell, there hasn't been a single complaint involving a Salt Lake hotel in the last two years.
One other peice of good news: bedbugs are not known to be carries of any diseases.
So good night, sleep tight. But "don't let the bed bugs bite."
