Exterminators say bedbugs on the rise in ND

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Pest exterminators say bedbugs are on the increase in North Dakota.

Plunkett's Pest Control owner Stacy O'Reilly says the company is getting more calls all over the state. O'Reilly says it isn't a big-city issue or a small-town issue.

Brian Neal, who lives in an apartment in Minot, says he spent six months sleeping in his car, living-room floor and bathtub to escape the bugs. The bugs have been exterminated.

Guardian Pest Solutions remediation specialist Dave Harris says 10 years ago it was mostly an East Coast problem, but now the upper Midwest is seeing an increase.

Bedbugs were common in the United States until the widespread use of DDT during the 1940s and 1950s. With the elimination of DDT due to health dangers, bedbugs have been making a comeback.

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