Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are thriving across the globe--from North and South America, to Africa, Asia and Europe. For some time, bed bugs were naively seen as a problem unique to developing countries, but their love of high thread content sheets has set them up in five-star residences in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe as well. Bed Bugs were first noticed in society by Americans in the early 1700 s. Many believe sailboats returning from Europe unknowingly carried the bugs as cargo, as sailors complained of being attacked as they slept in their cabins. With the introduction of DDT in the 1950s, bed bugs nearly disappeared. But when DDT was banned in the 1970 s, a wave of super bed bugs rejoiced. Now, up to 25% of residents in some cities have reported problems with the pests, bordering on epidemic levels. In fact, history has never seen such widespread and intense bed bug infestations. Our propensity for travel has left bed bugs with enviable frequent flyer status too. Following the Sydney Olympics, for example, and the thousands of visitors to Australia, it was estimated that the bed bug occupancy rate in Sydney hotels was 95%. In "Sleep Tight, "Brooke Borel introduces readers to the biology of these amazingly adaptive insects which can travel over 100 foot distances at night--and the myriad ways in which humans respond to them. She travels to meet with scientists who are rearing bed bug colonies on their own blood-- to the BedBug University, to swank apartments on the upper East Side of Manhattan. She explores the history of bed bugs, and their near extinction, charting how current infestations are in direct response to human chemical use. She also introduces us to the economics of bed bug infestations, and the industry that has arisen to combat that. This is the first history and natural history of bed bugs, and it leaves few exoskeletons unturned."