Category Archives: Bed Bugs North Carolina

  North Carolina, United States Bed Bug Registry Map
  Friday 12th of May 2023 19:43 PM


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Latest Bed Bug Incidents and Infestations

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Bed Bug Control | Hawx Pest Control

Bed bugs got their name because they gravitate to the sleeping areas near people initially. Common hiding spots for bed bugs include headboards, mattresses, and box springs. If you dont eliminate an infestation quickly, the bed bugs will travel to other parts of a home, including upholstered furniture, floors, behind baseboards, in wall voids behind outlets, and inside keyboards and electronics.

Bed bugs tend to come out at night and prefer to stay hidden. Catching a live bed bug in the open is nearly impossible. If you do see one crawling over your bedding, the infestation in your home may be so severe that getting rid of them will take more effort and time (and maybe some professional help).

Checking some of their favorite hiding spots more closely is one way to check for bed bugs. Monitoring any bite marks on your family, your pets, or yourself is another way.

Bed bugs thrive in places where people rest long enough to allow the bugs to finish feeding undisturbed. Feeding times for bed bugs are between 3 to 10 minutes.

After feeding, bed bugs tend to hide out of sight in nooks and crevices you may not expect. Knowing how bed bugs eat and survive will help you look at the common living areas below for any indicators of a bed bug infestation.

Beds

Your bed is most desirable to a bed bug looking to grow its brood. Food sources are always close by and there are so many places to burrow until its time to feed again or lay eggs.

Check for unusual spots on the sheets, pillow, mattress pad, mattress, and every seam and crevice of your bed. This includes your headboard, bed frame, the floor, especially if you have an area rug or carpet, and other places around your bed.

Couches

Your average favorite show on TV lasts about 25 minutes, which is plenty of time for bed bugs to feel sated until their next meal. Any upholstered piece of furniture where people hang around on a regular basis works well for bed bugs. This could be an armchair, ottoman, or even a wheelchair. Check every side of your seat and under the cushions for dark spots.

Baseboards and door hinges

So long as it is close to their blood supply, bed bugs will be there. Thats why baseboards, particularly in the bedroom and living areas where you frequently relax, are decent spots for bed bugs to live. Theyre not only excellent and convenient hiding spots but also the fastest way to travel from one room to another.

Bed bugs can choose any unusual spot that has crevices, including door hinges, so long as it is close enough to you, their food source.

Electrical fixtures

A spreading bed bug infestation can travel through walls and floors into adjacent rooms. Another access point besides baseboards are light sockets, outlets, and switches. These little nooks are great places for the bugs to hide until they are ready to feed when youre sitting next to outlet by your desk, in your favorite chair, or fast asleep in bed.

Electronics

Your laptop can easily house bed bugs in all of your keyboard crevices. Other places that have little electronic spaces for plugs (and bed bugs) are TVs, computer CPUs, and fans or air purifiers. If any of these electronics came from an infested area, bed bugs may be hiding in there.

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Horry COVID Update + MB Bed Bug Law + Get In On The MLK Parade – Patch.com

Hey, Myrtle Beach! Here's everything you need to know to get the New Year's holiday started off right. Today is Friday, December 31, 2021 the last day of the year! Keep your safety and health in the forefront of your mind if you are venturing out and about. The Grand Strand is crowded with visitors and locals going out to NYE events. Happy New Year!

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Before I sign off for the last day of 2021, I want to say thank you to all my readers and followers! Your personal notes and feedback are so encouraging! I started curating the Myrtle Beach Daily back in May of this year, and I'm having so much fun bringing you the news every day. I am truly grateful for all of you! I wish everyone a very safe and happy Grand Strand New Year! I'll see you in 2022!

Kathy Mandell

About me: The best decision I ever made was relocating to the Myrtle Beach area from New England a few years ago, with my three dogs and three cats. I enjoy dogs, cats, road trips, photography, writing, vegetarian food, live music, bicycling and above all my daily walks on the beaches in and around the Grand Strand.

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Horry COVID Update + MB Bed Bug Law + Get In On The MLK Parade - Patch.com

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North Carolina Bed Bug Hotel and Apartment Reports …

Bed Bug Hotel and Apartment Reports. Click on the city below to find our latest bed bug reports in North Carolina on hotels. To report a new bed bug incident, navigate to our city page below to see further details.

Recommended tips after hotel check-in: 1. Pick up the mattresses in the rooms and look under it. Check around the edges of the box springs. 2. Check under the box spring. 3. Lift up each headboard an lay it on the bed. Carefully inspect the hole where the headboard was lifted out of. Also, inspect all niches and corners of the headboard. 4. If you decide to stay in the hotel, do not put any clothes in dressers. Keep them in your luggage and your dirty clothes in plastic bags.

Happened in June 30-July 3rd, saw a bed bug on abdomen upon leaving the room on July 1st but thought I could have picked it up anywhere. After sleeping July 2nd into the 3rd, woke up scratching everyw...

I traveled to Charlotte on 6/11/2020 through 6/14/2020. I stayed at Hyatt Place Arrowood. The first night I slept in the bed and woke up with bite marks, I thought it was just the bugs in North Caroli...

Bed bugs found on 5/3/20 Found bed bugs in my room, staff treated the situation like it was no big deal, horrible customer service ...

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North Carolina Bed Bug Hotel and Apartment Reports ...

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Bed bugs modify microbial diversity of homes they infest – THE WEEK

New study says that bed bugs can modify microbial communities in homes they infest, an advance that could lead to better indoor environmental quality (IEQ).

Homes infested by bed bugs appear to have different bacterial communitiesoften referred to as microbiomethan homes without bed bugs, according to a first-of-its-kind study from North Carolina State University.

In addition, once bed bug infestations were eradicated, home microbiome became more similar to those in homes that never had bed bugs.

According to American health agency CDC, Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) refers to the quality of a buildings environment in relation to the health and wellbeing of those who occupy space within it. IEQ is determined by many factors, including lighting, air quality, and damp conditions.

Microbes can affect indoor air quality. So NC State entomologists Coby Schal and Madhavi Kakumanu wanted to learn more about the microbiome of bed bugs, whether bed bugs can shape the microbial community in homes they infest, and whether eliminating bed bugs changes the microbiome of homes that were once infested.

The study, held in an apartment complex in Raleigh, compared the microbiome of bed bugs with the microbiome in the household dust of infested homes as well as the microbiome in apartments that had no bed bugs. Nineteen infested homes were studied over the course of four months; seven were treated with heat to eliminate bed bugs after the initial sample was taken, while 12 infested homes were treated after one month. These homes were compared with 11 homes that had no bed bugs.

The results showed similarities between the microbiome of bed bugs and the dust-associated microbiome of infested homes, mostly through the presence of Wolbachia, a symbiotic bacterium that comprises the majority of the bacterial abundance in bed bugs. Bed bug and infested home microbiome differed significantly from the microbial communities of uninfested homes.

"There is a link between the microbiome of bed bugs and the microbiome of household dust in bed bug infested homes," said Schal, the Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Entomology at NC State and co-corresponding author of the paper. "No previous study has reported the impact of chronic pest infestations on indoor microbial diversity."

The study also showed that, after bed bugs were eliminated, infested home microbiome gradually became more like those in homes without bed bugs.

"The elimination of the bed bugs resulted in gradual shifts in the home microbial communities toward those of uninfested homes," Kakumanu, an NC State research scholar in Schal's lab and co-corresponding author of the study, said. "This paper is the first experimental demonstration that eliminating an indoor pest alters the indoor microbiome toward that of uninfested homes."

"Bed bug infestations are problematic in many homes in both developed and developing countries," Schal said. "There is a critical need to investigate infestations from the perspective of indoor environmental quality, and this paper represents a first step toward this end."

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Bed bugs modify microbial diversity of homes they infest - THE WEEK

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Inspections of long-term care facilities with outbreaks – North Carolina Health News

Four long-term care facilities with sizable outbreaks have had issues in the past, according to recent state inspections.

Carolina Public Press

Four North Carolina long-term care facilities with substantial outbreaks of the new coronavirus have a recent history of deficiencies in inspections, according to state records.

State health officials on Wednesday reported outbreaks of two or more cases in at least 20 long-term care facilities. Carolina Public Press asked the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday for a list of the names of facilities with outbreaks and the number of cases, but as of Thursday morning, DHHS has neither acknowledged nor complied with this request.

However, CPP has gathered information about four of the larger outbreaks of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, at long-term care facilities and in each case reviewed their recent reports.

Cherry Springs Village, an adult care home in Henderson County, has at least 23 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, a spokesperson for the residence has acknowledged. Cherry Springs Village also received citations for multiple problems, including one in November 2019 for failure to control vermin, in this case bedbugs.

Pine Forest Rest Home, an adult care home in Northampton County, has at least 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a spokesperson for the Northampton County Health Department told CPP on Tuesday. Last year North Carolina inspectors cited the facility for multiple problems, including failure to follow CDC guidelines to prevent infection.

Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home in Moore County, has at least 30 confirmed cases, the county Health Department said Wednesday. Federal inspections over the last year show the facility has been cited for multiple problems with tracking patient care and handling CPAP breathing devices for patients with severe respiratory problems.

PruittHealth-Carolina Point, a nursing home in Orange County, has more than 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in staff and residents, county Health Department officials confirmed Wednesday. Recent inspection records describe a series of problems at the facility, including failure to report a sexual abuse allegation to law enforcement.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Division of Health Services Regulation, oversees licensing of several types of long-term care facilities. Although many of these facilities cater to an elderly population, they may also house adults of any age, such as those with mental health issues or cognitive disabilities.

The licensing categories that North Carolina uses include nursing homes and adult care homes. Generally, adult care homes are inspected by state and county agencies. They receive a rating on a four-star scale, but the formulaic system does not always reflect recent or shocking violations.

Nursing homes, which are authorized to provide medical care, face federal inspection guidelines if they receive funding through Medicaid or Medicare. Although the state doesnt assign star ratings to nursing homes, the federal website medicare.gov evaluates them based on inspection reports.

In these four cases, the state had licensed PruittHealth for 138 nursing home beds, Pinehurst Healthcare for 144 nursing home beds, Pine Forest for 24 adult care home beds and Cherry Springs for 60 adult care home beds.

CPP conducted a major investigation into the states oversight of adult care homes in 2017, raising questions about inconsistencies and effectiveness, as well as drawing attention to the states lack of full compliance with a related federal settlement.

As of Sunday, 23 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified in residents and staff at Cherry Springs Village in Hendersonville, according to a statement the Henderson County Health Department.

Those individuals are being treated in isolation by health professionals, and the community is under quarantine until further notice, James Harvey, a spokesperson for Cherry Springs Village, said in a statement Sunday.

Harvey emphasized the facilitys adherence to strict health guidelines from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionto prevent infections.

Asked by CPP about the facilitys recent history of deficient inspections, Harvey responded in an email, We immediately corrected these deficiencies. He added that those points were irrelevant to the new infection control measure the facility put in place in February.

Cherry Springs Village continues to follow strict infection control protocols, including the use of personal protective equipment when providing care, wearing masks at all times and changing clothes and following decontamination procedures each time they enter or exit the building.

The facility issued a press release with a posed image of staff members, announcing them as heroes, on Wednesday.

Asked by CPP whether this might be perceived as a cynical marketing move during the crisis, Harvey responded that the company wasnt doing any marketing currently.

Right now, we have genuinely heroic staff in our communities all over the state of North Carolina trying to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, he said. They are saving peoples lives at the risk of their own.

An inspection at Cherry Springs Village in November 2019 came in response to a complaint about bedbugs. The surveyor who completed the inspection wrote that the facility was out of compliance with sanitation rules requiring effective measures to keep out vermin.

Interview with the administrator revealed a current bedbug problem has been ongoing since October of 2018, the surveyor wrote on Nov. 22. Records indicated multiple rooms had been treated on at least two occasions for bedbugs, but the surveyor observed live bedbugs. The facility agreed to pest control treatment in additional rooms, plus ongoing treatment.

The report also found that the facility was not effectively cleaning rooms, which was interfering with resolving the infestation. The surveyors described the observation of 15 dead bedbugs that had not been cleaned up in one room.

An annual inspection in September cited the facility for multiple issues with cleanliness and food storage and labeling. Among other issues, an ice machine that had built up a black residue wasnt being cleaned because different staff members thought it was someone elses responsibility.

North Carolina rates Cherry Springs Village with 3 out of 4 stars, which has been consistent since 2016 despite the deficiencies cited in inspection reports.

Cherry Springs Village is owned by Hickory-based Affinity Living Group, a for-profit operator of long-term care facilities in eight states.

At least 30 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to Pine Forest Rest Home in Potecasi, according to Northampton County health officials.

James Glascock, 65, a Pine Forest resident admitted to a nearby Virginia hospital in late March, tested positive for the illness and later died from related complications, according to a report from WRAL.

His family said he was new to Pine Forest and had been there just over a week when he was admitted to Southampton Memorial Hospital in Franklin, Va.

A statement from county Health Director Andy Smith issued March 28 said all patients and residents at the facility had been tested out of an abundance of caution. At that time, he described the additional cases as asymptomatic.

The Health Departments investigation into the matter remains ongoing, but Mr. Smith confirms the overwhelming majority of these cases have had good outcomes, a county spokesperson said Tuesday in response to questions from CPP.

An annual inspection in September found multiple issues at Pine Forest Rest Home, including failure to implement an infection control policy consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to be followed, with staff was exposed to bodily fluids of a resident that posed significant risk of transmission of pathogens.

According to the report, special procedures were put in place for a resident with a severe colon infection but were not consistently followed.

A housekeeper told inspectors that she was advised to wear personal protective equipment when entering the residents room but had not been given any protocol about what do to when she entered the room and found urine and feces all over the room when he first arrived.

Although she used water and bleach, she had no guidance about the proper proportions to disinfect the room.

Other personnel apparently did not consistently handle soiled items from the residents room with sufficient care to prevent contamination, according to the report.

Separately, the same report found that food at the facility was being stored improperly and without proper labeling. It also found that nutritional requirements, including those of residents with special dietary needs, were not being met consistently.

Following this inspection, Pine Forest Rest Homes state rating dropped to two stars in early 2020, after having been rated at four stars since 2012.

Pine Forest is registered with the state of North Carolina as an independent nonprofit company.

The Moore County Health Department worked with FirstHealth Regional Hospital early this week to have all residents and employees at Pinehurst Healthcare & Rehabilitation center tested for COVID-19 by Tuesday after an initial positive test was linked to the facility over the weekend, according to a statement Wednesday from the Health Department.

Of 96 current residents, 26 tested positive, as did five of 115 staff members. However, some results have not yet been received, according to health officials, who said there were no severe cases so far and those with confirmed cases have been isolated.

To date, Pinehurst Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center has consistently followed all local and state directives meant to curb the spread of the virus, including restricting visitation of all visitors and nonessential health care personnel as well as strictly adhere to infection prevention practices, the Health Department statement said.

Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation is rated much below average, according to the federal website medicare.gov.

A state recertification inspection conducted in January found a long list of problems with accurately recording and maintaining the status of multiple patients under the mandated federal minimum data set guidelines, or MDS.

In some cases, patients did not receive required care, such as regular blood screening for a diabetic patient receiving insulin.

The report also cited the Moore County nursing home for not clearly dating medication and failing to dispose of expired medication.

An earlier inspection report last July, in response to a complaint, found problems with the facilitys handling of CPAP devices to help patients breathe, including questions about whether they were being cleaned properly.

Pinehurst Healthcare and Rehabilitation is part of the for-profit Yadkinville-based Triad Group, which operates 25 long-term care companies.

Orange County health officials said strike teams from UNC Hospitals, Duke Hospitals and Orange County Emergency Services are focusing on prevention and response at the countys long-term care facilities and had tested all staff and residents at PruittHealth-Carolina Point even if they had no symptoms.

Seven residents of PruittHealth have been taken to Duke University Hospital, according to Kristin Prelipp, a spokesperson for the Orange County Health Department.

PruittHealth-Carolina Point, which has a Durham address but is located in Orange County, is rated much below average, according to medicare.gov.

The state conducted a complaint investigation at the facility in February and found that officials failed to tell law enforcement about the alleged sexual abuse of a resident by staff.

A state complaint investigation in January found that the facility failed to notify a patients doctor when the patient refused to accept medication.

Georgia-based PruittHealth is a for-profit corporation operating more than 90 long-term health care facilities throughout the Southeast.

Editors note: CPP lead investigative reporter Kate Martin also contributed to this report

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Inspections of long-term care facilities with outbreaks - North Carolina Health News

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