Sleep Tight . . .

and don't let the bedbugs bite. Alas, it appears that is easier said than done. Bedbugs are staging a comeback.

The Washington Post reports on a Chicago woman who is suing a Catskills hotel for $20 million after being bitten over 500 times by bedbugs. (Warning: distasteful photo included in this USAToday article.)

Bedbugs were once thought to be eradicated in the USA, back in the old days when DDT was widely and liberally used. When DDT was banned in 1972, the bedbugs started moving back in. World travel has made it easy for them to snag rides on unsuspecting travelers, and they are now found in every state except for Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

The good news is that they do not serve as carriers for human diseases. The bad news is that they are very difficult to get rid of, and they aren't limited to dirty and unkempt places. After all, they don't feed on dirt--they feed on you.

Links:
Worried about bed bugs in your hotel room?
Strangers in the Night
Bed Bugs -- University of Kentucky Entomology