eBook

Prevention of bug bites, stings, and disease

Debboun, Mustapha, Frances, Stephen P, Strickman, Daniel

2009

Overview

Venoms from scorpions, spiders, centipedes, ants, wasps, and bees can be very poisonous, or induce serious allergic reactions. Blood sucking mites, ticks, lice, bed bugs, kissing bugs, sand flies, biting midges, black flies, mosquitoes, snipe flies, horse flies, tsetse flies, stable flies, and fleas cause irritation. More seriously, some of them can leave behind pathogens that cause serious diseases. This volume presents the full spectrum of methods necessary for prevention of bites and stings from the worldwide variety of bloodsucking and venomous arthropods. The first step is identification of the problem by identifying the bug, knowing where the bug occurs, and deciding whether or not the problem is seriously connected to health problems. The next step is to build the bugs out of the personal environment of the home and its surrounding property. If those methods do not give complete relief, insecticides can sometimes provide the solution. Barriers like screens and doors can at least help when people are indoors. Outside, clothing can make a big difference, especially if repellents are applied to the cloth. The last resort for people exposed to bloodsucking bugs is to use repellents on the skin. This book provides information that will help in choosing the right repellent among the dozens of natural and synthetic products.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Subject: Arthropoda / Bites and stings / Natural History / Ornithology
• ISBN: 0195365771, 9780195365771, 019536578X, 9780195365788