Politics & Government

Bed Bugs Biting Less in Santa Cruz County

A bed bug infestation at a Silicon Valley Starbucks brought the tiny pests back into the news.

Minor infestations of bed bugs continue to bother Santa Cruz County residents, according to Paul Binding, manager of Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control.

"There have been some section 7 housing, transient motels and senior apartments in town that we have assisted with information," Binding said. "I would guess that four institutional settings had bedbugs last year."

Reports of bed bugs infestations in more public settings, like the incident at a Campbell Starbucks last month, are rare in Santa Cruz County. Binding said typically motel managers like to deal with these quietly.

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The small parasites are round, flat and travel by crawling or being carried place to place.

Two years ago, the county Vector Control contributed to a task force to set up UCSC housing with a response plan and they selected a professional pest contractor specifically for bed bug problems and wrote out policies for students and facilities managers.

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Get more information about bed bugs from the Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control website.


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