Important information on bed bugs and disease.

1. By Bed Bug Finders, LLC
BED BUGS AND DISEASE

2. INTRODUCTION
While bed bugs are a gross and annoying pest it was generally
thought they do not carry or transmit disease. The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control has said that “bed bugs are not known to spread
disease,” but said that sometimes the itching caused by bed bugs
“can lead to excessive scratching that can sometimes increase the
chance of a secondary skin infection.”
However, a recent Penn State study conducted by the Center for
Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics discovered that bed bugs
“can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas
disease.”

3. BED BUGS AND CHAGAS
• Penn State professor Michael Z. Levy conducted experiments
involving bed bugs and mice to determine if bed bugs
transmitted the parasite responsible for Chagas disease.

4. STUDY RESULTS
• First researchers exposed 10 mice that had the T. cruzi parasite to bed
bugs that did not have it. Most of the bed bugs ended up acquiring the
parasite as well.
• In a second experiment, 9 out of 12 mice who did not have the disease
ended up acquiring the parasite after living with bed bugs.
• The third experiment tested the results of placing infected bed bugs’
feces on areas of mice’s skin that had either been previously bitten by
bed bug bites, or inflamed by a needle to resemble a bed bug bite.
This experiment showed that 4 of 10 got the parasite this way, and 1
in 5 “were infected when the skin was broken by the insect’s bites
only.”

5. SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED?
• “We’ve shown that the bed bug can acquire and transmit the
parasite, Dr. Levy said. “Our next step is to determine whether
they are, or will become, an important player in the
epidemiology of Chagas disease,” Levy said. However, he also
noted that there could be something we do not yet know about
bed bugs “that mitigates the threat.”
• It is known that triatomines, closely related “cousins” to bed
bugs, can transmit T. cruzi via its feces.
• The study showed that bed bugs can transmit the parasite with
its feces being contacted with broken skin. This is a way humans
can become infected.

6. CHAGAS IN THE US
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, believes there
could be as many as 300,000 people in the United States infected
with Chagas disease. There are two types of infections with the
disease: acute and chronic.

7. CHAGAS SYMPTOMS*
Acute:
• Fever
• Rash
• Nausea
• Swelling at the site of the
infection, the glands, or on the
eyelids
• Aches throughout the body
Chronic:
• Heart problems, including
“irregular heartbeat, congestive
heart failure” or “sudden cardiac
arrest”
• Enlarged esophagus causing
difficulty in swallowing
• Abdominal pain
*provided by the Mayo Clinic

8. CHAGAS TREATMENT
• People infected with Chagas disease can go without displaying
symptoms for months, years or even decades. This complicates
treatment. Dr. Levy says that if bed bugs start to spread the
disease in the U.S., “decades of progress on Chagas disease
control in the Americas could be erased, and we would have no
means at our disposal to repeat what had been accomplished.”

9. BED BUG REMOVAL
• Due to this recent discovery it has become even more important
to do everything you can to prevent bed bugs from coming into
your home and if they do make sure you know how to treat
them. Eliminating bed bug infestations can be broken into two
parts; detection and removal. Both are vital in the removal of bed
bugs and can ensure safety for you and your family.
• Contact the experts at Bed Bug Finders to ensure your family is
safe or to treat a bed bug infestation.