Bedbugs back in Toledo

Bedbugs have been found in a West Toledo apartment building.

The Ohio State University Extension Office was actually contacted last week and asked to identify an insect.

OSU confirmed that the insect was a bed bug and now are in the process of setting up educational programs to tell people what to watch for and how to handle a bed bug infestation.

 Although OSU Extension isn't saying which apartment building the bedbug was found in, the general location of the bedbug that was found in the Westgate area of Toledo.

OSU Extension contacted the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and the county health department said it's not unexpected, especially with a rise in bedbug infestations elsewhere in the state.

"We have had reports before," said Konni Sutfield, of the county health department. "I don't know if it's an infestation or whether or not it's something that's rising up. We've been getting additional reports."

Female bed bugs can lay up to a dozen eggs a day, can live for months without food, and are nocturnal. Bedbugs They are also very tiny, and you might not know the insects are lurking in your home until it's too late.

"There's not many transmissions of diseases, but there are bites," Sutfield said. "Because there are bites there's a connotation I'm unclean when that isn't the case. Some of the best hotels in the world have problems with bedbugs."

Before you think about trying to protect yourself from bedbugs by using over the counter spray or bug bombs, think again. You might just make your problem worse.

"(Sprays or bug bombs) just makes them run from place to place. It doesn't kill them so it spreads the problem."

The best way to deal with bedbugs are by calling a professional.

Bedbugs are common in places like hotels or dorms, where there are a lot of people coming and going. These insects are hitchhikers are easily transported on luggage and on clothes.