Bug Bites: Identifying What Bit You

Summer is the season for treks, backyard barbecues, camping, and lounging by the beach. It is the time for fun and the great outdoors. But summer also puts you more at risk, as insects and bugs are teeming during the season, whether you are outdoors or simply at your backyard. Bug bites can range from the low-level bothersome and harmless to deadly, depending on what bit you.

Read on below on how to identify some common bug bites. Knowing what bit you will help you decide whether you need urgent medical attention or not.

Bed Bug Bites

Let’s start with these indoor bugs.

Bed bugs, which usually hide in your furniture, feed on humans or animals. Although bed bugs are not carriers of infectious diseases, their bites can be very itchy and irritating.

Bed bug bites look like mosquito or flea bites, characterized by red welts, which are slightly swollen. The bites can appear in lines of multiple red marks. You can treat bed bug bites with anti-itch creams.

Mosquito Bites

Mosquito bites can be characterized by hard, puffy bumps with a red dot at the center, or as blisters. Mosquito bites can be harmless, but at times they can be deadly.

Mosquitoes can be carriers of serious diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika virus, and the West Nile Virus. In 2014, the Center for Disease Control reported more than 2000 cases of West Nile virus in the US.

Tick Bites

Tick bites usually cause itching and a burning sensation in the bite area. Ticks often stay in warm, moist spots of our body. If ever you see a tick latching onto your skin, promptly remove it with tweezers.

What you should look out for in a tick bite is if a circular rash forms around the bite. This is the first symptom for Lyme disease. Seek immediate medical help if this happens.

Other symptoms to watch out for are fever, headache, muscle pains, and a skin rash. This can mean that the tick that bit you was a carrier of the Rocky Mountain fever. It can be a fatal infection, but treatable with immediate medical care.

Fire Ant Bites

Fire ant bites look like red welts or bumps, with semicircular patterns for multiple stings. Once you are bitten, you would feel a burning, stinging sensation in the area. The bites may then turn into blisters.

It can also cause painful lesions. If the bites result to an allergic reaction, seek medical attention.

Flea Bites

Flea bites appear as red spots surrounded by red haloes. A flea bite turns white when pressed and would usually spread over time. Fleas usually attack your legs and feet. The bites will feel very itchy. In case you see the bite wounds excrete pus, seek medical help immediately.

Get Help from a Pest Control Company to Prevent the Proliferation of Bugs

Keep yourself protected from bugs by keeping your home and your pets clean. For bug infestations in your home, call a reputable pest control company who will help keep your home bug-free.

Written by BugOut Pest Control & Lawn Care. BugOut Pest Control & Lawn Care offers the best service for pest control in Columbia, MO.