Last week, newspapers and web sites across the country reported on a growing bedbug problem that our company has been talking about on this blog since the summer of 2006.

Bedbugs have made a tremendous resurgence in the United States. According to this article from NPR, bedbug reports have increased over 70 percent in the last five years. The problem finally has reached the attention of the federal government. The Environmental Protection Agency hosted its first ever bedbug summit in Arlington, Virginia.

Bedbugs are small wingless insects that feed on blood. These insects seek shelter in dark cracks and crevices in the home. Bedbugs are not known to transmit diseases; but their bites can cause infections and allergic reactions in some people. The insects release an anticoagulant to get the blood flowing. They also excrete a numbing agent so that their bites do not often wake their victims.

For more information and to answer some specific questions about bedbugs, check out this document drafted by the Harvard School of Public Health.