Feds look for ways to prevent bedbugs from biting

[February 01, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government is looking for ways to crack down on bedbugs.

The pesky insects have infiltrated New York City and turned up everywhere from swanky hotels to homeless shelters around the country. Now they are the subject of a two-day national bedbug summit in Washington that kicks off Tuesday.

The million-dollar question is what the federal government can do about them.

While remedies to control the critters have improved since the last national summit two years ago, the "Federal Bed Bug Working Group," as it is called, still faces an uphill battle. The appleseed-size insects, which live in the folds and crevices of sheets and mattresses, are difficult to kill.

Research has shown that bedbugs are developing a resistance to pesticides.

[Associated Press; By DINA CAPPIELLO]

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