September 2011 is quickly drawing to an end and so is the first “National Bed Bug Awareness Month.”  The campaign to educate American’s about bed bugs began on September 1st and ended on September 27 with the North American Bed Bug Summit in Chicago, Illinois.  The three day summit has brought top bed bug experts, government officials, and representatives from the hospitality, housing, university, and healthcare fields together to discuss the trouble with bed bugs in the United States and around the world.  The summit also featured more than 70 of the latest bed bug technologies that are available.

To bring further awareness and education this month about bed bugs to the public, BedBug Central, and entomologist Jeffrey White, has teamed with a media company to create 14 educational online videos.  The videos were released throughout the month of September as well as informative articles and interviews with entomologists from across the United States.

Things to remember about bed bugs:

• Bed bugs feed solely on blood.  They prefer human blood, but will attack other mammals if necessary.

• Bed bugs are hitchhikers.  They can be found anyplace that humans congregate.

• Having bed bugs is not an indication that a person is dirty.  Because of their ease of transport, even the finest hotels have suffered from bed bug infestations.

• Despite their name, bed bugs are not only found in beds.  When traveling, look for bed bugs behind the headboard, behind baseboards, in lamps, behind pictures, at the edges of carpets, in cracks and crevices, and in dresser drawers.

• Bed bug bites are red and intensely itchy, but not everyone suffers the allergic reaction to the saliva from the bed bugs, which is why the bugs often go undetected until an infestation is out-of-control.

• If you have a bed bug infestation, don’t panic!  Although bed bugs are a huge nuisance to eliminate, eradication is possible with the help of a licensed pest control expert that has experience in bed bug removal services!

For fast NJ pest control services, contact Stern Environmental Group.