Ottawa Herald, The (KS)
Barry Banzet leads Gunner, a 1 1/2-year-old black lab-mix, around a small spare bedroom in his home.
Following the simple, commanding phrases of “go to work” and “find it,” Gunner excitedly proceeds to swiftly sniff and search areas that are believed to be contaminated. He puts his nose to the ground around the bed and a large, tan pillow on the floor catches his attention.
Without warning and in less than a minute, Gunner anxiously and hurriedly sits, signaling to Banzet he’s found something.
With the next command of “show me,” Gunner paws at and “points” with his snout to an area behind the pillow. Banzet reaches around the pillow and removes a small glass vile containing about four bed bug smelling strips.
“Good boy, good boy,” Banzet repeats to Gunner while patting him on the head. He reaches into his tan and black work vest pocket and pulls out Gunner’s reward for a job well done — a black, rubber toy.
“He works to play,” Banzet said.
Gunner recently was paired with Banzet, the owner of B&B Professional Cleaning, 115 E. Fifth St., Ottawa, as his new bed bug detection wonder-dog.
How do you kill ’em?
Banzet purchased Gunner from the Southern Star Ranch in Texas but wouldn’t say for how much.
A canine’s keen sense of smell makes them excellent candidates for detecting pests that can go unnoticed by the human eye, Banzet said, and Gunner is about 98- to 99-percent accurate in detecting the nocturnal insects during a K-9 inspection.
Price and time vary for a typical inspection depending on the area and type of building. Banzet said a typical inspection costs about $200 and usually lasts a minimum of two hours.
Gunner joins the cleaning service as one part of a new two-part system B&B Professional Cleaning is using to help eradicate bed bugs that have found their way into residential and commercial properties in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
In addition to Gunner, the cleaning service recently received a license enabling it to become the first company in Kansas to use heat in the treatment of bed bugs, Banzet said.
The use of heat, known as “structural pasteurization,” requires no pesticides and is lethal to the insects. Bed bugs have begun to build up a resistance to pesticides and that, coupled with more frequent international travel, has led to a national influx of the nocturnal creepers, he said.
“It’s a very new process and the bed bugs cannot withstand the heat,” Banzet said. “We used to use steam but the bugs got smart and hid in places where steam wouldn’t get them.”
“The chemicals are not immediate,” Banzet said. “And with heat we’re in and out same day, no harmful chemicals, and they are dead. Heat is a healthy alternative.”
What are they?
Notoriously known as “hitchhikers,” bed bugs fit into a category of blood-sucking parasites similar to head lice, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bed bugs, like head lice, feed on the blood of humans and until recently were not believed to carry diseases or bacteria.
Midge Ransom, director of the Franklin County Health Department, 1428 S. Main St., Suite 6, Ottawa, said people start itching and scratching bites, which can lead to infections.
The small, flat, wingless insects are clear before feeding and reddish-brown after. They range from 1 to 7 millimeters in length and can live several months without feeding.
According to a study published this month in the CDC’s monthly peer-reviewed public health journal, “Emerging Infectious Diseases,” although bedbugs have not been shown to spread disease, they do carry two strands of bacteria known to cause difficult-to-treat infections. The study was conducted in an impoverished urban area of Vancouver, Canada, where reportedly bedbug infestations are increasing.
Are they here?
Gunner has only been with Banzet for a few weeks, but has not yet worked for hire in either Ottawa or Franklin County.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were here,” Ransom said. “Especially as much as they are being transmitted across the nation.”
Ransom said she has received about a handful of phone calls from people inquiring about bed bugs and how to prevent them, where to look for them and what the best treatment is. Ransom answers heat.
There haven’t been any confirmed bed bug reports, she said, but she certainly has had people call in with the concern they might have them.
An employee with Frontier Extension District No. 11, where residents can take a bug for identification rather than calling out a pest control specialist, said the office has not had anyone bring in any insects for identification.
Scott Smith, owner of Affordable Pest Control, 1149 S. Mulberry St., Ottawa, said he has not treated anyone in the Franklin County area for bed bugs within the past year.
Bed bugs can travel more than 100 feet in one night, but they tend to live within eight feet of where people sleep.
“If you sleep on a couch, you could have them in the couch,” Ransom said.
They are commonly found in mattresses and box springs, bed frames, wallpaper and night stands.
One of the easiest ways to identify a bed bug infestation is by bite marks that appear on the face, neck, arms, hands and any other body parts, according to the CDC.
Ransom said one distinctive factor of bed bug bites is that they tend to be in lines of three or four.
Other signs might include bed bugs in the fold of mattresses and sheets or rusty-colored blood spots on mattresses and furniture.
While there is no real way to “prevent” bed bugs, Ransom suggested leaving suitcases in a hot car when traveling and keeping luggage off the floor when in motel rooms.
For Gunner’s sake though, Banzet hopes the bugs make their way to Ottawa soon.
“He’s ready,” Banzet said. “And he would love to be working all day long because then he gets to play.”
Angelique McNaughton 