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Bed bugs are pretty much everywhere. They’re being spotted in major cities like Paris, London and even Toronto now. They’ve been found in 135 countries in the world, according to a recent study, and they can live in mattresses, couches, walls, lightswitches, even books. For a while, we were doing well at keeping the bed bugs in check, but not anymore.

Murray Isman, a professor and dean emeritus at UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, explains how bed bugs became so prevalent, and why they’re so good at sticking around.

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