While bed bug infestations were common in the U.S. through World War II, they were basically wiped out with pesticide use. Around the late 1990’s, they began to pop up again here and in other Western European countries. And in the latter part of the previous decade, continued outbreaks led to more widespread public concern.
Experts contribute the resurgence of bed bugs to increased immigration and travel from developing countries as well as federal restrictions on the use of certain pesticides. While they traditionally may have been viewed as a third-world problem, bed bugs definitely have gone global.
