Category Archives: Bed Bugs South Carolina

South Carolina is a smallish state, but with three geographic regions, mild winters, and hot and humid summers, it is a paradise for all kinds of wildlife, from small rodents to badgers, mink, spiders, long-tailed weasels, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. The state is home to animals strange and pedestrian, predators and herbivores, some of the countrys rarest animals, and those seen and heard every day. Here are only a few of the fantastic beasts of South Carolina and where to find them:

The official state animal of South Carolina is the white-tailed deer, which, to be blunt, is found absolutely everywhere in the state.

South Carolinas official state bird is the Carolina wren, an aggressive little bird with a loud and confident voice. The state wild game bird is the wild turkey, which, like the white-tailed deer, is widespread. South Carolinas state duck is the wood duck, which is also called the Carolina duck.

The bottlenose dolphin is commonly seen off the coast of the state. The official migratory marine mammal is the northern right whale, which comes to the coastal waters to give birth.

A citizen of the state wont need to travel far to experience South Carolinas wildlife. All manner of birds, opossums, raccoons, skunks, wild hogs, and white-tailed deer are frequent visitors to farms and backyards. However, South Carolina does have 47 state parks that cover 9000 acres from the southern coast to the mountains. In these parks, the visitor can glimpse the less common animals such as the badger, the mink, alligators, and the long-tailed weasel.

Among the state and national parks is Table Rock State Park in Pickens County where people can fish for the state fish, the striped bass as well as catfish, trout, and bream at Pinnacle Lake and Lake Oolenoy. Other areas are Caesars Head State Park, where visitors can find black bears, try to get a glimpse of the endangered green salamander, and fish for trout in the rivers.

Found only 18 miles from Columbia, the state capital, Congaree National Park is home to feral pigs, otters, bobcats, and armadillos. Its waters hold many species of fish, including catfish. Other sites are Kings Mountain State Park and Paris Mountain State Park, with their many varieties of birds and fish. Hunting Island State Park is a barrier island thats home to alligators, deer, diamondback rattlesnakes, and many types of fish, including barracuda. It is where the rare loggerhead turtle hauls out to dig nests in the sand and lay eggs.

Besides the bottlenose dolphin and the right northern whale that visits seasonally, marine mammals found off South Carolinas coasts include the minke, sei, bowhead, fin, and humpback whales. Other marine mammals are the goose beaked whale, the sperm whale, the harbor seal, and the harbor porpoise, and other types of dolphins, beaked whales, and pilot whales. The West Indian manatee, a strange and peaceable creature somewhere between a walrus and a dolphin, is also found off South Carolina.

Though the gray wolf seems to have been extirpated from the state, some claim that the red wolf can still be found in South Carolinas forests. Some also claim that this canine is actually a cross between a wolf and a coyote. If it is still found in South Carolina, it must be the rarest of canines, and its status is critically endangered.

Canines that are not endangered are the grey fox and the red fox, which are also visitors to peoples yards. The coyote has also made its way into South Carolina as it has into other parts of North America.

Though people are wary of bats, they perform an important role in the ecosystem by eating mosquitoes and other insect pests such as cockroaches, Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, and cucumber beetles. Among the bats found in South Carolina are the big brown bat, the little brown bat, the evening bat, the eastern pipistrelle, and the hoary bat. Bats often roost in caves or in peoples attics or barns.

Rabbits found in South Carolina are the eastern cottontail, one of the most commonly seen rabbits, the swamp rabbit, and the marsh rabbit.

The bobcat is South Carolinas only extant big cat. The cougar was extirpated from the state, and its subspecies, the eastern cougar is extinct.

South Carolina also has a wealth of rodents, many of whom do find their way into buildings. They include the house mouse, which is common to the point of ubiquity even though it is not native to the state. Other rodents are more species of mice, including jumping mice, the black, Norway, hispid cotton and marsh rice rats, the musk rat, and voles. The state is also home to several species of squirrels, including the groundhog, the eastern chipmunk, and the southern flying squirrel. Beavers build their dams and lodges in South Carolinas ponds, streams, and swamps.

Though shrews arent rodents, they are mouse-sized creatures with long, pointed snouts. Among the shrews that populate South Carolina are the common or cinereus shrew, the least shrew, the southern and northern short-tailed shrews, and the tiny American pygmy shrew.

The black bear has stable populations in the northwest and the southeast parts of the state, and it at least passes through every other county. The only county where the black bear hasnt been seen is Bamberg County.

The opossum is the only marsupial in North America, and it is found just about everywhere in the state. It is not above raiding peoples garbage cans and building nests in the ductwork.

Mustelids in South Carolina include the mink, the long-tailed weasel, and the river otter. Minks are found in the upper Piedmont region and down in the marshes along the coast, and there are populations all through the rest of South Carolina.

The long-tailed weasel prefers the borders between the woods and fields, of which there are many in South Carolina. Though its not especially common, it has been implicated in raiding henhouses.

The river otter is found in the states coastal marshes and swamps, around beaver ponds and refuges for waterbirds.

Badgers, which are relatives of weasels, are also found in South Carolina. More robustly built than their cousins, badgers dig burrows called setts. A family of badgers is called a cete.

Another strange and fascinating creature is the nine-banded armadillo. Not native to the state, it has made its way north from South America. Females always give birth to identical quadruplets and both sexes jump 3 or 4 feet straight into the air when theyre startled.

South Carolina is a haven for all sorts of birds, from seagulls, terns, skimmers, and pelicans as well as birds that scurry along the shore in search of food such as plovers and oystercatchers.

Birds found in South Carolinas wetlands include rails, gallinules, bitterns, and grebes. Some wading birds are egrets, spoonbills, herons and ibises, and the endangered wood stork. Birds of prey include bald eagles, ospreys, kestrels, owls, hawks, falcons, and kites. Other birds are bluejays, robins, cardinals, kingfishers, cedar waxwings, crows, bluebirds, thrashers, chickadees, chimney swifts, phoebes, and many others.

The number of reptile species in South Carolina is also vast. The largest is the alligator, which lives in the states freshwater or brackish ponds, streams, rivers, and swamps. They are easy to find in the Savannah River and its tributaries. An adult male can grow to 15 feet long and weigh close to 1000 pounds.

The more humble reptiles include anoles, which live around human habitation and can change their color from brown to leaf green. There are skinks, fence lizards, horned lizards and geckos, glass lizards, and racerunners. Snakes include garter snakes, water snakes, black snakes, rat and corn snakes, and venomous rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, coral snakes, and copperheads.

Besides the loggerhead turtle, South Carolina is home to the leatherback sea turtle, the diamondback terrapin, the gopher tortoise, and species of freshwater turtles including the chicken turtle, the bog turtle, the common map turtle, the river and Florida cooters, and the mud turtles.

South Carolina amphibians include all types of frogs and toads including the American toad, the southern and northern cricket frogs, the bird-voiced tree frog, the squirrel tree frog, the bullfrog, the gopher frog, and the eastern spadefoot toad. Theres also the little grass frog and the spring peeper.

Salamanders are more elusive than frogs and toads, as their voices if they have voices, are quiet, and they live in moist places under rocks and leaves. Among them are the two-toed amphiuma, or the congo eel, which can be 4 feet long. South Carolina also contains sirens, mudpuppies, Alabama waterdogs, and hellbenders.

Like other warm places, much of South Carolinas wildlife is made up of insects. Among the least welcome are the fire ants, Palmetto bugs, bed bugs, cockroaches, termites, mosquitoes, weevils, scarab beetles and aphids, horseflies, and deerflies.

Among the insects that are tolerated if not welcomed are butterflies, the prettier species of moth such as the luna moth, bumblebees, honey bees, ladybugs, dragonflies such as the azure bluet and fireflies.

The Carolina wolf spider is the state spider, and South Carolina has other tiny predators such as jumping spiders, crab spiders, cellar spiders, nursery web spiders, fishing spiders, orb weavers, and green lynx spiders.

Some of the zoos in South Carolina include Charles Towne Landing, which recreates the conditions of Charleston when it was still an English settlement. Because of that, visitors can see bison, river otters, wood storks, and other wading birds. Columbias River Banks Zoo is also a favorite, as is the Greenville Zoo.

More wild animals found in South Carolina include native arachnids such as pillbugs, ticks, centipedes, millipedes, harvestmen, scorpions, and pseudoscorpions. Other common insects are wasps, hornets, treehoppers, grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles, including the Hercules beetle. The common and alligator snapping turtles are also found in South Carolina, and the black vulture and the turkey vulture feast on carrion, including the always plentiful roadkill. Amphibians include the seepage salamander, the marbled salamander, the southern zigzag salamander and the red-spotted newt.

Since South Carolina is home to so many creatures, it is inevitable that some are going to be dangerous to humans. The most dangerous include:

Besides the loggerhead sea turtle and the green salamander, endangered animals in South Carolina include:

South Carolina is home to 38 different species of snakes. Some common snakes in the state include the corn snake, black racer, rat snakes, mud snakes, and ribbon snakes. In addition, there are six species of water snakes (which are non-venomous) and 6 species of venomous snakes in the state. Venomous snakes in South Carolina include cottonmouth snakes, timber rattlesnakes, coral snakes, and copperheads.

Read about:

The ambrosia beetle forms a symbiotic relationship with the ambrosia fungi

Don't eat raw eel! Their blood is poisonous to humans when consumed raw.

They are so named because they "march" in armies of worms from one crop to another in search of food

They're also called black pilot snakes due to a myth that they "pilot" venomous snakes to a den where they can go into brumation for the winter.

It's a strong fighter when caught on a fishing line

Cactus moths can cause serious damage to cacti in locations where they have no predators.

Corn snakes are partly arboreal and are excellent climbers.

When injured or damaged, the shell of the eastern box turtle can regenerate

The name chipmunk is derived from an Ojibwe word that means one who descends the trees headfirst.

When the glass lizard loses its tail it can grow another one. But the new tail lacks the markings of the old one and is usually shorter.

Rat snakes are medium-to-large, nonvenomous snakes that kill by constriction.

The eastern woodrat mating ritual involves a potentially deadly fight between the male and female before reproduction begins!

Adult fleas can jump up to 7 inches in the air

Although it is a tree squirrel, it spends most of its time on the ground.

Ladyfish are aggressive fighter when hooked, making them a favorite of anglers.

They have a symbiotic relationship with ants.

Females are about four times the size of males

The owl can rotate its head some 270 degrees

Rat snakes are constrictors from the Colubridae family of snakes.

Will mate with the entire flock!

Some gulls are capable of using tools

The modern Spectacled Bear, which lives in South America, is related to the Short-Faced Bear!

These snakes live underground, beneath piles of leaf litter or in thickets, and they are expert swimmers.

The Venus flytrap is among a group of plants that consumes animals

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Wildlife in South Carolina - Types of South Carolinian Animals - AZ Animals

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A: Unfortunately, bugs that look like cockroaches are a dime a dozenand just the idea of cockroaches can give many people the shivers. When most people think about cockroaches, theyre usually thinking of the standard American cockroach or the slightly smaller German cockroach. If youre wondering, What does a cockroach look like? you can certainly use the help of the internet to search for a picture of a cockroach. But if youre not interested in scrolling through photos, heres what a typical cockroach looks like: Cockroaches are dark brown or black with six legs and a hard outer shell to protect their wings. They have flat, oval-shaped bodies with two long antennae on either side of their heads. But depending on your situation, you could easily be seeing insects such as beetles, waterbugs, bedbugs, crickets, or palmetto bugs.

While cockroaches can seem like just a nuisance, their presence can pose some real health risks. Cockroaches carry bacteria that can cause salmonella, staphylococcus, or streptococcus infections. They also can carry intestinal diseases like dysentery and cholera. And cockroaches arent just a threat to you, either: They can pose a risk of passing parasites to pets, too. With all of these possibilities, its imperative to know if youre definitely dealing with cockroachesor if you just have a harmless beetle that wandered into the wrong house. The following tips can help you determine what type of bug is in your home and how best to treat the problem.

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Because both types of bugs can have similar coloring, it can be easy to confuse beetles for cockroaches and vice versa. It may be wise to get a closer look to spot identifying features to determine which kind of bug youre seeing. For instance, beetles are often more round than cockroaches and have shorter legs and antennae. Plus, beetles often have dense tufts of hair that you likely wont find on the body of a cockroach.

Beetles may cause damage to your belongings, depending on the type of beetle, but theyre not inherently dangerous to humans or animals. They rarely bite, and if they do, the bite doesnt typically require medical attention (although it may cause some pain or blistering if youve been bitten by a blister beetle). If you do find yourself with a beetle infestation either inside the home or in the yard, there are several things you can do to treat the problem and prevent the pesky insects from returning. First, youll need to find out what type of beetles are invading your space. From carpet beetles to Japanese or click beetles, the specific kind of beetle may need to be treated differently than others because of the type of damage they can do to clothing, food, or wood.

Carpet beetles, for instance, feed off of animal fibers such as wool, fur, silk, and leather. Their specific diet means theyre more likely to be found in closets or dressers. Carpet beetles are small and dark in colorsimilar to a small cockroach. Japanese beetles, on the other hand, are a notorious invasive species and garden pest. They have an unmistakable iridescent shell and feed on flowers, fruit, or grasses. Its unlikely that youd find one inside the house unless one from your garden has made its way inside by accident.

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In general, however, you can get rid of most beetles by setting sticky traps, using natural oils such as peppermint or neem oil as repellents, or by sealing up gaps that they may be entering through. However, the most effective method of elimination is to identify how theyre getting in and what theyre feeding on and make it harder to access entry points and food sources. You can caulk window and doorframes, patch any holes in screen doors, or fill any visible cracks to make sure your house is tightly sealed and not penetrable to pesky creatures like cockroaches or beetles. If DIY or prevention measures arent successful, you still may need an exterminator to get the problem fully under control.

With both types of bug having six legs and a long body, its no wonder crickets and cockroaches often get mistaken for one another. But theres one major distinction: if you see the bug jumping, its likely a cricket. Both bugs are also dark brown or black in coloring, making their appearance even more similar at first glance. There are several differences between crickets and cockroaches, however. Crickets have front wings and long legs for jumping, while cockroaches have shorter legs and a more rigid external shell to protect their bodies. When it comes to infestation, cockroaches typically prefer the indoors, while crickets tend to stay outside in lawns or gardens.

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Since crickets are omnivores, they feed on plant and organic material, which is why youre more likely to find them outdoors than inside the home. That doesnt mean they cant make their way into air vents or other tricky spots where their chirping can be heard, but their bodies cant be seen. Crickets survive by hunting decaying matter and rotting vegetation, so as long as those types of materials arent inside your home, you should be able to avoid a cricket infestation.

If there are only one or two stray crickets in the home, theyre not cause for concernbut they can be tricky to kill, thanks to their high hops. If you have pepper spray on hand, that can kill a cricket almost instantly, as pepper is deadly to them. You can also try vacuuming them up, trapping them in a cup, or spraying them with hairspray in order to slow them down. But if you find yourself with a widespread cricket problem, the good news is that crickets are mostly harmless and wont damage a home. However, they can wipe out crops, so if thats a concern to you, it may be time to call in the help of a pest control professional.

Since they are typically found near palmetto trees in South Carolina and Florida, a particular species of cockroach is referred to as palmetto bugs. Although they do fall under the general roach umbrella, palmetto bugs have certain traits and behaviors different from other cockroaches found across the country. Because they prefer warm, damp conditions, palmetto bugs are most likely found in basements, sewers, woodpiles, and landscape materials.

As far as appearance is concerned, palmetto bugs are reddish-brown with a light yellow ring around the shield-like structure protecting their heads. The smokybrown cockroach is also referred to as a palmetto bug, and this species looks slightly different than the average American cockroach. Adult smokybrown cockroaches are dark mahogany in color with a shiny coating. These bugs tend to gravitate toward tree holes, mulch, and landscape materials.

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These bugs can also fly and are attracted to bright lights, which can be a hazard when homeowners turn on outdoor lights to enter the home. The best way to hinder palmetto bugs from gathering near your home is to remove any leftover landscape materials that they may be drawn to. If youve taken the necessary measures to keep palmetto bugs at bay but are still experiencing issues, it may be time to call in an expert.

Cockroaches revolt homeowners, but bedbugs give roaches a run for their money in terms of household pests. Although they are similar in color, bedbugs and cockroaches dont share many other physical or behavioral attributes, which should make identifying either a little bit easier. For starters, bedbugs are much smaller than cockroaches. At about 1/5-inch long, they are often so small that only evidence of them can identify their presence. Finding bites on your body in clusters of three is a good indication that you have a bedbug infestation, as is the appearance of blood on sheets, insect droppings, or small insect eggs.

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Unfortunately, like cockroaches, bedbugs are tenacious and difficult to eradicate. If you find yourself with a bedbug infestation, there are several steps you can take to eliminate them from the infested area. Its advised to check your mattress, headboard, baseboards, or other bedroom furniture to see the extent of the infestation. Then, youll need to wash all bedding on the highest temperature setting to ensure the insects, larvae, and eggs are killed off successfully. Its also important to vacuum all the furniture, floors, and rugs in the room to help remove any remaining bugs. A steamer on couches and mattresses is also a good safety measure since bedbugs die in extreme temperatures. If youre still not convinced the problem is solved, its best to consult a professional who can likely eliminate the problem in less time and prevent the insects from returning.

True water bugs, such as water scorpions, live in water and use their legs as paddles to get from one destination to the other. Oriental cockroaches, however, are often referred to as waterbugs because they prefer warm, damp places and can be found in trash cans or sewers. In the roach vs. waterbug distinction, its unlikely you have a real water bug since youve discovered the insects inside the home and not in a body of water. Water striders, pond skaters, and water spiders are also identified as actual water bugs, although they dont use their legs as paddles but instead use surface tension to stay afloat.

Oriental cockroaches are typically darker in color and have slightly longer legs than American or German cockroaches. They typically come out more in the warmer months. Since you could have an oriental cockroach on your hands, its essential to know how they survive and thrive to know the best way to get rid of them. This type of roach prefers starchy foods and decaying plant and animal matter, but it can survive for up to a month without any food source. On the other hand, they cant last more than 2 weeks without water, so eliminating any stray streams of water can help deter them from visiting your home. Another reason to quickly eradicate the oriental cockroach is because of its ability to spread contaminants that cause diarrhea and food poisoning, which can be brutal on the human body.

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If you have an oriental cockroach infestation in or around your home, it is wise to call a pest control professional to eliminate the issue immediately. An expert in pest control will have the experience and knowledge needed to identify which type of cockroach you have and will have the necessary tools and products to make the problem go away quickly. Plus, if potentially harmful chemicals are required to handle your infestation, its best to let a pro handle them so you dont place yourself in harms way.

Even if you are convinced that the bugs in your home are not cockroaches, but just bugs that look like cockroaches, a professional pest control expert can confirm your suspicions and advise on the best course of action. A professional will have the right knowledge and know the correct signs to look for. Regardless of the type of the pest that has invaded your home, a pest control expert can help prevent future infestations, too.

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How To Distinguish Cockroaches From Bugs That Look Like Cockroaches - Bob Vila

Garron Bradish, the countys environmental health supervisor, fields many complaints about bedbugs.

He has advice to offer to callers, but can do nothing to force landlords to address a bedbug infestation.

Actually, they arent considered a public health threat because they dont spread any kind of disease, he said. Theyre more of a nuisance.

Bedbugs are tiny insects, less than a fifth of an inch, that live on human blood, hide in dark crevices and can go up to a year without eating, all the while laying eggs and increasing their numbers.

They are hard to spot because they dont like light, but evidence of their presence is detected in bites left behind on humans or animals.

The presence of bedbugs is unrelated to cleanliness, according to experts. They find their way into a dwelling through furniture, clothing or luggage. Bedbugs are capable of surviving on cats, dogs or birds, but prefer a human host.

An inspector with the county environmental health office was one of several regulators who investigated conditions at the apartment of Regina Mathis in September. While there were plenty of roaches in the apartment, no bedbugs were found, which wasnt surprising, Bradish said. Thats because bedbugs often dont come out in the daylight.

Once bedbugs have invaded an apartment complex, they are difficult to eradicate without treating all of the units.

Bedbugs travel through the walls, ducts or electrical outlets, Bradish said. They can move from apartment to apartment. Years ago they got into the Towers in Waynesville.

In that case, the infestation was treated and the problem was solved, he added.

While mattresses must be tossed, bedbugs can be killed through a heat treatment in some cases. Furniture cushions can be placed in black trash bags, and left in the sun or a trunk, for instance, and clothing can be washed in hot water and placed in a hot dryer.

But the best way to be sure they are gone is by using a chemical spray, Bradish said.

Kevin Hathorne, the technical director at Terminix Service in Columbia, South Carolina, said each bedbug situation is different and the control strategies depend on the severity of the problem.

Bedbugs dont care if a house is dirty or clean, he said. If there is a lot of clutter, it will make a situation a lot worse and a lot harder to get under control. It helps tremendously to get rid of clutter and clean up.

Bedbugs are small and extremely flat, he said, which means they can get into places such as microwave or television circuits or electronics places not traditionally associated with an infestation.

However, if a home is treated, items such as electronics, lamps, computers and other belongings must be cleaned or specially treated to prevent the chances of a re-infestation.

If the treatment area adjoins another apartment, units on either side of the infested unit must be treated, Hathorne cautioned, as bedbugs commonly use wall voids, electrical wire conduit lines and pipes to travel between apartments.

The most expensive but permanent solution is fumigation, where a tent is placed over the entire building that is sprayed and left vacant for three days.

Heat treatment, where a propane or electric powered unit pumps heat into a house, is effective, he said. Since the heat generators must remain outside, this option doesnt always work on upper floors, and the units cant be placed in a hallway.

In a situation like a several-story, multi-unit apartment complex, a multi-faceted approach would likely be needed, he said, and all tenants would definitely need to agree to comply.

If one resident isnt cleaning and washing bed clothes, over time that will have the possibility of spreading bedbugs back out, causing the situation to happen again, Hathorne said.

Spray treatment would likely be tailored according to the infestation level in each unit, he said, with preventative methods chosen for units not yet infested.

Getting bedbugs out of an apartment complex is difficult, Hathorne said.

Its a tough situation, especially when there are no laws to keep people responsible, he said. The longer it goes on, the worse the infestation gets.

Even if you spend the money to have your unit treated, units surrounding you can be a source of infestation. Its not a good situation.

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Bedbugs are an insidious neighbor | News | themountaineer.com - The Mountaineer

(MENAFN - The Conversation) Some critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement itself is racist . Their frequent counterargument: All lives matter. Lost in that view, however, is a historical perspective. Look back to the late 18th century, to the very beginnings of the U.S., and you will see Black lives in this country did not seem to matter at all.

Foremost among the unrelenting cruelties heaped upon enslaved people was the lack of health care for them. Infants and children fared especially poorly. After childbirth, mothers were forced to return to the fields as soon as possible, often having to leave their infants without care or food. The infant mortality rate was estimated at one time to be as high as 50% . Adult people who were enslaved who showed signs of exhaustion or depression were often beaten.

As a professor of social work , I study ways to stop racism, promote social justice, and help the Black community empower itself. A relationship exists between the health of enslaved Blacks and the making of America.

White masters, often brutal and violent, dehumanized the enslaved people who worked for them and became wealthy from their work. Slaveholders justified their treatment by relying on the widely accepted view of Black inferiority and the physical differences between Blacks and whites. Racist medical theory, the racist notion that the blacks were inherently inferior and animal-like who needed maltreatment to be sound for work, was a critical element .

Enslaved people were poorly fed, overworked and overcrowded, which promoted germ transmission. So did their housing bare, cold and windowless, or close to it. Because they were not paid, slaves could not maintain personal hygiene. Clothes went unwashed, baths were infrequent, dental care was limited, and beds remained unclean. Body lice, ringworm and bedbugs were common .

This treatment began in slave dungeons, built by Europeans on the coastal shores of Africa, where enslaved Blacks awaited shipment to the New World. In Ghana, for example, perhaps 200 were cloistered in tiny spaces where they ate, slept, urinated and defecated. Archaeological research has shown the dirt floors were soaked in vomit, urine, feces and menstrual blood. Conditions within the dungeon were so deadly that cleaning them was discouraged; those who tried risked smallpox and intestinal infections .

Diseases among the enslaved people in the colonies and later the states were common and at a disparate rate when compared to whites: typhus, measles, mumps, chicken pox, typhoid and more. Only as a last resort did the slave owner bring in a doctor . Instead, the white master and his wife would provide the health care, though rarely were either one trained physicians. Older enslaved women also helped , and brought their knowledge of herbs, roots, plants and midwifery from Africa to the Americas. As with everything else, Blacks had no say about their care. And if a doctor was involved, Black patients were not necessarily told anything about their condition. The medical report went directly to the slave owner.

Black women played multiple roles. Of course, they were part of the labor force. And they took care of the sick. But they were also the machinery for producing more black bodies. After the mid-Atlantic slave trade was banned , slave owners needed a new source of labor. A pregnant enslaved woman provided that possibility. The birth of a baby born into slavery meant profits that potentially lasted generations, a product requiring little investment.

Some of the Black women were used in medical experiments ; much of the research, some conducted without anesthesia, focused on maternal health. As the white scientists inflicted tremendous pain on the pregnant women, the infants being carried sometimes died . Through the torture of these enslaved women, many white physicians and white medical institutions gained considerable fame and wealth .

Adverse health consequences for Blacks facilitated the establishment of some medical advances, such as the invention of the speculum for gynecological exams. One enslaved woman reportedly endured 30 gynecological surgeries without anesthesia. Medical interests and also economic and political interests were served.

More than 150 years later, the health disparities of Black and white Americans remain. To fix what is wrong today, an understanding of the inequities of the past is an imperative. Only then can we begin to dismantle the structural racism that is replete within the American system. Knowledge of the history is necessary to explore and identify the underlying mechanisms to understand how racism revives itself to continue to produce health disparities, and ways to interrupt it.

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Enslaved people's health was ignored from the country's beginning, laying the groundwork for today's health disparities - MENAFN.COM

If you have ever encountered bed bugs in your home or hotel room

You might be wondering how they got there.

They can quickly get into your luggage and travel back home with you, causing an infestation that can be a nightmare to deal with.

Every state has their problems, those of which can affect you as you travel from state to state.

So its natural to wonder

How do you know if the state youre in has a high rate of bed bug infestations?

How do I minimize the risk of encountering bed bugs?

What states have the lowest number of infestations?

In this article we will answer these questions and run through the list of the top bed bug infested states and cities.

On that note lets dive in.

Unfortunately, there have been reported bed bug cases in EVERY state in America.

Not a single state is immune to infestation.

For years now, the number of cases have been growing, with thousands of reported cases in 2019.

Though the problem isnt only affecting America.

In fact.

Bed bugs are not native to America, and they have spread to every continent nonetheless.

(except Antarctica)

Thats because they are avid hitchhikers.

Bed bugs tend to climb into peoples luggage or belongings, allowing them to quickly spread as people travel.

As transportation becomes more efficient, people are traveling more and more. This leads to bed bugs being spread faster than ever.

This is the reason bed bugs have made a major comeback in the 21st century.

That being said

Bed bugs dont discriminate. They dont care about state borders and cleanliness.

Theyre not attracted to dirt, so they can be anywhere Whether it be run down apartments or 5-star hotels.

These pests have been significantly multiplying over the past 3 decades.

In the early 20th century, bed bugs were a very common problem. But that was before we had all the pesticides that eradicated them

Or so we thought.

From about the 1950s all the way to the 1990s

There were very few cases of bed bugs in the US. The pesticides did the work, and we almost entirely forgot about the little critters.

But then they came back with a vengeance, utterly resistant to the chemicals that used to kill them, reproducing at a lightning-fast pace.

From about 2015 onwards, the number of bed bug cases have exploded.

The popular pest control company Orkin, has recently published reports on the worst states for bed bugs, as they do every year.

For 3 years in a row The number 1 Bed Bug State is.

Maryland.

Which continues to be one of the most bed bug infested states. Mostly thanks to cities like Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Indiana and Georgia originally werent in the top 10, but since 2019 infestations in these states have grown.

With Indianapolis and Atlanta holding the 9th and 10th spot, of bed bug infested cities respectively. .

Rounding out the top 5 we have Illinois and California. You can begin to see a trend here, whereas states with major cities are more infested.

(Due to population density)

To sum up here are the top 10 most bed bug infested states:

Here are the top 10 cities in the US with the most cases of bed bugs in 2020 (Source: Orkin)

To help you get a bigger picture of the spread of bed bugs across the United States

Here are some bed bug maps that are eye-opening.

Based on a bed bug infestation map published in 2016:

It shows that New York City had the most reported bed bug incidents at the time a staggering 4,490 reports.

Thats a massive difference from the figures of Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, which had 485, 446, and 403 reports, respectively.

You can see that the east coast is hit by far the hardest.

This is because the east coast is much denser than the rest of the country. There are also many popular tourist, and business travel destinations in these states.

This map also has powerful statistics about where bed bugs are found.

Here are the top locations where bed bugs are located by percentage (2015 Survey):

For more recent insight, we also looked at a 2019 map of bed bug infestations.

Its almost as if youre looking at the same map.

And as you can see from the top 10 list above, things are not so different in 2020. The share of states being hit the hardest is consistent, the only difference is that the sheer number of cases have gone up everywhere.

You can see that some of the states have traded places, but the problem still exists everywhere.

If youre planning on moving to another city in the US or youre planning a vacation, you may not want to consider cities that have seen a jump in cases.

Here are the 10 cities with that have experienced significant growth in bed bug infestations.

For the first time, Toledo and Myrtle Beach made the top 50 list according to Orkin.

Though both Ohio and South Carolina have hard hit states for years.

As mentioned, the degree to which a state is infested has a lot to do with population density. Similar to infectious disease, bed bugs spread more when there is more person to person interaction.

Therefore, here are some of the states with the lowest numbers of bed bug infestations.

Though infestations in the above states is relatively less

Its still important to be cautious about bed bugs when traveling.

For example, If youre staying at a hotel you should properly inspect the hotel room for bed bugs before spending the night.

If you happen to encounter bed bugs anywhere across the US, be it your apartment or hotel, we can connect you with a lawyer to discuss your options.

If youve suffered bed bug bite injuries or experienced a bed bug infestation in your residence due to someone elses negligence

You may be able to file a lawsuit and potentially get financial compensation.

Keep in mind that our lawyers can only represent you on a pre-litigation basis only. That means we can only assess your situation to help you determine if you have a case.

If you do, a licensed attorney will fight for you to get compensation for your losses.

(for both your injuries and expenses)

Get in touch today for a Free Consultation. There are no fees unless you win your case.

Originally posted here:
Top 10 Worst States For Bed Bugs | Which State Has The ...