A Houston woman was appalled when she discovered that the couch she was renting came with an unexpected surprise: bed bugs. After getting a few unexplained insect bites, the woman inspected her new couch and found it infested with bed bugs and clusters of their eggs.

“It’s just been hell. It’s disgusting,” Kalynn Trammell told My Fox Houston. She has endured dozens of bed bug bites that have produced raised bumps and scars that cover her back and legs. “Every bite has resulted in a scar; I now have to look at this for the rest of my life. I look like I’ve been doing drugs,” she said.

While only 50% of people react to bed bug bites, many people are allergic to the intensely itchy bites of these small blood-feeding insects. Bed bug bites typically produce large, itchy welts and hives that look like mosquito bites on steroids. Scratching can cause bites to become infected and scar.

Used and rental furniture are frequent sources of bed bug infestations. People are also warned not to bring home furniture picked up off the street. The Houston rental center says their furniture is “sanitized” before being rented or sold; but furniture must be subjected to high heat for the proper length of time to kill bed bugs. Rental centers might profit from purchasing the ZappBug Room which is large enough to heat treat a couch or other large piece of furniture. Check it out on our online store.