Sleepless nights in Kisumu as bedbugs takeover villages

Sleepless nights in Kisumu as bedbugs takeover villages

Residents of Kochieng village, Kisumu County, are dreading going to sleep after a massive bedbug infestation in the area.

The bedbugs which have infested homes and fields have caused them sleepless nights and discomfort with some residents terming it as a plague.

According to residents, the parasites were discovered around Namba Okana on Friday afternoon in large numbers and were spreading towards the villages in the northern side.

Odhiambo Aketch says that efforts to kill them by using insecticides proved futile with some resorting to using diesel over while others contemplated fleeing their homes out of fear.

Health officers have already visited the area and taken samples of the insects for analysis but area residents are apprehensive over slow response saying that the invasion by the parasites may cause vast health effects to both people and livestock.

Naomi Awuonda, area Community Health Worker (CHW), says that the parasites are spreading at a fast rate and counter measures are in progress despite the overwhelming challenge of putting them under control.

Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed but after feeding their bodies swell and become reddish in color.

Bedbugs do not fly, but can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs and although they are a nuisance they do not transmit diseases.

 

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Kisumu County

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