Bedbugs' Itch Breeding New Ways to Scratch

Freeze 'em, bake 'em, call in the dogs—pests can't bite if they're dead
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2008 2:00 PM CDT
Bedbugs' Itch Breeding New Ways to Scratch
The bedbug is seen in this CDC released photo.   (Public Domain)

No one’s sure why bedbugs are back, but US companies think they know how to kill them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Startups are using everything from dogs to cold blasts to hair-dryer-like devices to sniff out, freeze or bake the pests. “We don’t have an easy method of elimination,” said one entomologist. “We are looking for the silver bullet.”

Bedbugs aren’t just nursery-rhyme holdovers. They’re real insects that feed on human skin, leaving behind itching welts. “It was very stressful,” said one bedbug victim. “The idea that there were I don't how many bugs on me while I was sleeping completely grossed me out.” Researchers are even trying to create a trap that mimics a sleeping human. (More bedbugs stories.)

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