Scientists have confirmed that newly-discovered blood-sucking bedbugs identified in Ha Noi are not known to be responsible for transmitting diseases to either people or animals.

“There has been no evidence to prove that this species of bug is able to transmit disease and people have become less frightened of it,” said the Army Anti-pandemic Hygiene Institute’s Nguyen Quang Thai.

But many people have complained of developing itchy swelling and rashes after being bitten.

He warned that the bug often bites at night and could cause insomnia.

The insect has a slightly yellow, flat body and is between 4-5mm long.

“During its life cycle of between six weeks to several months, each bug can lay up to 500 eggs,” Thai said.

The bug first appeared in Ha Noi during the 1970s and 1980s but was eliminated when the city attempted to eradicate malaria by spraying chemicals, he said.

The bug, a member of the Hemiptera species, is also be found in Europe, North America and South Asia.

Bedbugs often live in mattresses, sofas and sheets and feed on their victims for five to ten minutes.

Thai suggested that cleanliness and insect repellent were the best ways to defeat the bugs.

Source: VNS