More Creepy, Crawly Bed Bugs Found In El Paso

All across the country, a pesky problem has been spreading all summer – bed bugs!.

And El Paso’s no different, local exterminators say bed bug calls have doubled since last year.

“I thought I had a mosquito bite, ” but then after noticing a pattern, Charlene Thomasson, a bed bug victim, said it became pretty obvious it was something different. “If you’ve got bites in a row, or in a triangle like I did, then that’s a pretty good indication.”

Contrary to the name, bed bugs are not limited to beds, offices are also becoming a preferred haven for the little parasite.

Bed bugs are innovative with how they get around from place to place.

“They hitchhike on anything,” Thomasson said. “So, it could’ve been a backpack that entered my house, it could’ve been through clothes that I purchased.”

The proficient travelers are visible to the naked eye and look like pepper flakes. Their bites hurt but they don’t carry any diseases. They feed on human blood but can live up to a year without eating.

“I woke up one night and thought something was crawling, so I woke up and grabbed my flashlight and I looked, and sure enough, there was one in the bed,” said Thomasson.

The blood-sucking critters are nocturnal and getting rid of them can take some work, starting with washing bed sheets in hot water.

“I pulled out everything from closets, drawers, I pulled everything from the bed,” said Thomasson.

That’s not all, you also have to clear out your house for exterminators to spray every nook and cranny.

Of course to avoid the mess, early detection is key to not letting those bed bugs bite.