In March, more than 7,500 daily record-high and more than 540 all-time high temperatures were set, according to meteorologists at Weather.com. These unseasonable temperatures can mean the insurgence of bed bugs.
According to ABC News reporting, Timothy Wong, technical director of M&M Pest Control in New York City, said business gets "out of control" in the summer because eggs hatch quicker in warmer weather. In colder temperatures, eggs take between seven and 14 days to hatch, but in the warmth, they hatch in six to 10 days.
Once the temperature hits 65 degrees outdoors, travel increases and facilities see more occupants walking through the doors. Wong comments that during the warmer months, his staff will respond to at least 400 to 500 cases of bed bug infestations each month.
"March has been insane," he said. "The number of cases for us are up 18 percent from last March."
Reports indicate that bed bugs might not be the only insect terror to hit an early upswing. Experts say there may be an early surge of ticks, and in turn, Lyme disease, because of the warm weather.
"Ticks ... are fussy, and high heat, high humidity or cold can dampen, but they are very local in that density of ticks can vary merely hundred yards apart in a given region," Dr. Paul Auwaerter, clinical director of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, wrote in an email.
"Warmer weather certainly means an earlier start to the tick season, and I have had patients bringing in ticks as early as the last week of February this year," Auwaerter said. "Whether this translates into more cases of tick-borne infections is unclear."
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