Bed Bugs Invade Senior Living Apartment Complex

EMSL Analytical offers testing services to identify bed bugs utilizing advanced PCR techniques.
 
Cinnaminson, NJ, February 2nd, 2012
 
Recently, WHNT reported that an outbreak of bed bugs has occurred at a Huntsville, Alabama senior living apartment complex.  According to the report, one tenant complained to management who then conducted an investigation of the other units.  The investigation discovered 20 additional senior apartments infested with bed bugs.
 
Cimex lectularius is the scientific name for the common bed bug.  They are parasitic insects that feed on human blood.  The name arrived due to the insects’ preference to inhabitat places that people sleep.  Bed bugs are extremely tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions, including being able to survive for extended periods of time in cold temperatures and low humidity. 
 
People exposed to bed bugs can face a host of health effects that include rashes, allergic symptoms and psychological effects.  Last year, it was reported by Canadian scientists that they had discovered Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on bed bugs.  The research was conducted after doctors at a hospital noticed an increase in both bed bugs and MRSA infections.  Although the study was small, it raised concerns that the bed bugs which can cause people to scratch bites from the bugs could be introducing MRSA or other microbial pathogens into people’s bodies. 
 
Last year, Arizona joined Maine, New York and Illinois as the first states to have signed into law legislation dealing with the bed bugs.  Arizona’s legislation assigns responsibilities to landlords and tenants in multi-family housing with ways to deal with the blood sucking insects.
 
EMSL Analytical, one of the nation’s premier environmental testing laboratories, has a PCR technique to identify bed bugs and their remains.  “At EMSL we are able to test for the DNA from bed bugs to determine if they are present,” reported Joe Frasca, Senior Vice President, Marketing at EMSL Analytical.     “Due to the size and nature of bed bugs, identifying them can be a real challenge without the assistance of scientific results.  Utilizing advanced PCR technologies that look for DNA markers specific to bed bugs has changed all of this,” he continued.
 
To learn more about testing for bed bugs, please contact EMSL Analytical at www.EMSL.com, call (800)220-3675 or email info@EMSL.com.
 
About EMSL Analytical, Inc.
EMSL Analytical is a nationally recognized and locally focused provider of environmental and materials testing services and products to professionals and the general public.  The company has an extensive list of accreditations from leading organizations as well as state and federal regulating bodies.

Contact Information

Joe Frasca

Senior Vice President, Marketing

EMSL Analytical, Inc.

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