Bedbugs Released At Pennsylvania Walmart Prompt Investigation

Source: NBC News

Walmart reached out to other stores in the area and verified that this is an isolated incident, Pennsylvania State Police said. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after bed bugs were released in a Walmart changing room.

A manager at the Walmart store in Washington Township told police a closed pill bottle containing live bugs was found by store staff in a boy's jacket that was for sale. Walmart disposed of the jacket and pill bottle without contacting authorities, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release.

An employee from Ecolab, a health safety company, visited the store Friday and found bugs that were later identified as bed bugs, crawling around in the men's fitting room. A second closed pill bottle was found Saturday by a store associate on the floor in the men's department. It contained several dead bugs. Walmart called police afterward to report the incident.

Bedbugs are small parasitic insects that feed on the blood of people and animals as they sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bedbugs-released-pennsylvania-walmart-prompt-investigation-n1111171

---

BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51012938

There are 100 different species of bedbugs and most of them live on bats. Only two feed on humans. The insects feast on the blood of their sleeping victims, inflicting itchy, red welts.

They are a difficult pest to eradicate. Bedbugs can live for up to a year without a blood meal and new studies indicate that bedbugs in the US have developed a resistance to popular insecticides.

Though bedbug bites are not considered dangerous, an allergic reaction to multiple bites can require medical attention.