By Emily Wiley, Staff Writer
Students moved back into their rooms earlier this month after a case of bed bugs forced them to relocate temporarily.
Two cases of the parasites were found on campus, but OCU Housing officials said Sept.16 they are taking actions to prevent them.
Officials hired a pest control company after residents on the fourth floor of Methodist Hall dormitory found bites on themselves. Pest control officers confirmed that the bed in one room had bed bugs. University officials then relocated students in that area and the surrounding rooms to a different part of the building while the bugs were exterminated.
The same issue occurred on the sixth floor of Walker Hall dormitory. One bed was found to have bed bugs. The whole hall was relocated while pest control officers treated the beds. To keep the insect from spreading to the other rooms, pest control officers treated the two beds and put preventative in the room directly beside the affected area.
It was a week before all 19 residents were able to move back into their rooms. Resident assistants helped students move their belongings. These are the only campus buildings where bed bugs were found, said Ade Okediji, director of university housing. He said the situation is under control.
“Most people took care of it themeselves,” said Kaitlin Meows, BFA acting sophomore and resident assistant.
Bed bugs are parasitic insects that feed exclusively on blood, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, www.epa.gov . The insects prefer warm spaces, especially in or nearby beds and other sleeping areas, according to the EPA. Since they are nocturnal, bed bugs usually feed on their hosts without being noticed, making them difficult to detect, according to the EPA. Signs of their presence include bite marks, fecal droppings, blood smears on sheets, and their empty molted exoskeleton, according to the EPA.
Symptoms of bed bugs include skin rashes, and allergic reactions, according to the EPA. Bites can range from not visible to prominent blisters, according to the EPA.
Bed bugs can be brought in from other infested areas by a persons clothing or luggage, according to the EPA. They can also move through duck work in the ceilings, making it easy for the parasites to travel from dwelling to dwelling, according to the EPA. People who travel a lot are more likely to carry bed bugs with them, according to the EPA.
Heat treatment is the best way to rid of bed bugs, officials said. Students in the affective areas were encouraged to wash all their belonging or wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in the trunk of a car or on the patio. The pest control company treated the effected campus beds and dorm rooms with heat.
“It’s funny when they come out sweating,” said Oubon Sychareune, administrative assistant for university housing.
Officials said it the first time bed bugs have been found on campus
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