Two Veterinary Meds Show Promise Against a Tough Foe: Bed Bugs

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

Two commondrugsthat veterinarians use to kill parasites on pets could be the solution to getting rid ofbed bugs.

Both fluralaner andivermectin, which are used to kill fleas andtickson household pets, could also killbed bugs. The newer, longer-lasting fluralaner showed especially strong potential.

这项新的研究来自北卡罗琳a State University (NCSU) study that examined thedrugsand their effectiveness in controllingbed bugpopulations on poultry farms.

Entomologists and veterinary scientists from NC State's College of Veterinary Medicine testedbed bugdeath rates in different experiments.

One included mixing blood with each of the drugs on a lab bench and letting the bugs eat it. In the other,bed bugsfed off chickens who had received the treatments topically or through ingestion.

“The drugs affect receptors in the insect's nervous system,” said corresponding author Coby Schal, a professor of entomology.

Both drugs killed mostbed bugson the lab bench. Fluralaner worked even better onbed bugsthat showed resistance to common insecticides, the investigators found.

“Thebed bugis a globally important insect,” Schal said in a university news release. “The last few decades have seen a resurgence ofbed bugsin homes, and now we're seeingbed bugsreturn to poultry farms. Since there is no proven method to stopbed bugsin commercial farms, the potential problems on poultry farms could be massive. We're trying to get ahead of it by developing technologies that can eliminate bed bugs.”

Fluralaner was also highly effective at killing bed bugs that fed on chickens.

Ivermectindid not work in that experiment, possibly because the chickens quickly clear that drug from their systems, the study authors noted.

“We used the recommended dosage of ivermectin, either in a topical form or ingested, but neither was able to kill bed bugs,” said first author Maria González-Morales, a former doctoral student at NCSU.

Though fluralaner is new and mostly used for companion animals, Europe and Australia have approved it for use in the poultry industry. Ivermectin is used on household pets, larger animals and for anti-parasitic purposes in humans, particularly in Africa.

Adding fluralaner to poultry drinking water could be effective against bed bugs on poultry farms, the researchers said, along with monitoring, education and heat treatments.

“The health effects to poultry frombed buginfestation are not well documented, but anecdotally poultry farmers see animal welfare concerns likestressandanemia, which could negatively affect meat or egg production,” González-Morales said.

Schal added that there are other issues as well.

“在这些农场工人也有问题s considering how easily bed bugs can spread from poultry to people,” he added.

The findings were recently published online inParasites & Vectors.

More information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more on getting rid of bed bugs.

SOURCE: North Carolina State University, news release, Nov. 29, 2022

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