Common bed bug and German cockroach infestation trends in multifamily housing over more than a decade

The resurgence of the bed bug, Cimex lectularius (L.), stimulated the University of Tennessee Urban IPM Lab to investigate methods to detect bed bugs in low-income housing for the elderly and disabled. At the request of an East Tennessee housing authority procurement officer, we began our journey with HUD housing in 2013 and have since been evaluating pest detection in these environments. We’ve inspected more than 3691 apartments in 33 housing complexes for bed bugs and only found one small development of 15 duplexes where no bed bugs were detected. The mean C. lectularius infestation rate was 16%, and the maximum was 45%. While these infestation rates were discouraging, the infestation rates of the German cockroach, Blatella germanica (L.), greatly exceeded them. In 2022, we began trapping for German cockroaches and over the next three years, we documented mean infestation rates of 75% in eight mostly high-rise apartment buildings. German cockroaches are a more serious health threat, yet bed bugs receive more attention. Future Extension efforts in multi-family housing will emphasize management of German cockroaches.