Alliance Environmental Blog

Los Angeles Seeing More Bed Bug Infestations

Six years ago, bed bugs in Los Angeles county were virtually non-existent.  This year, Alliance will respond to thousands of calls for people seeking relief from beg bug infestations.  What has changed?  Bed bugs are quite literally an epidemic—these pests, which were all but extinct 50 years ago, are now sweeping across Los Angeles like a plague due to changes in travel habits and pesticides.

“Literally, it’s the biggest epidemic - as far as bugs go - hitting the world right now.”

-  Mike Masterson, Isotech Pest Management

Just ask the residents of Covina’s Southe Point Apartments on Citrus Avenue, where 15% of the units are infested with bed bugs.  The owner of the apartment complex, Ahmed Hassan, has been battling to eradicate these pests for over a year.

Three times since 2009 have workers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health declared the infestation “abated,” only to have the bed bugs reappear again.

While chemical treatments for bed bug infestations can be effective, Alliance promotes a more radical solution and guarantees success.  Cutting-edge heat treatment technology (ThermaPure heat) allows Alliance to elevate the temperature of a structure to 140 degrees, which is the temperature at which bed bugs (and their eggs) are destroyed.  The upside to this technology is quite obvious: no harmful chemicals, no odors, no needless move-out, etc.

Angelo Bellomo, directory of environmental health at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, stated that, “I think we’re looking at bed bugs a lot more seriously today than we have historically.”

Alec Gerry, a veterinary entomologist on faculty at UC Riverside, agrees: “Most likely, the bedbugs are back in the United States in greater numbers forever.”

If this is the case, then its time for Los Angeles county residents to educate themselves on the distinct benefits of Alliance’s ThermaPure heat treatment for bed bugs.