This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
They are not even five millimeters long and cannot fly or jump. Yet bedbugs strike fear in homeowners and business owners. Well, not all business owners. Some see money in these little bloodsuckers.
臭虫甚至不到5毫米长，不能飞也不能跳，然而，他们让房主和企业主感到害怕。哦，不是所有的企业主，有一些企业主从这些小吸血虫中发现了商机。
Missy Henriksen speaks for the National Pest Management Association.
密西·亨利克森（Missy Henriksen）代表美国国家害虫管理协会（National Pest Management Association）发言。
MISSY HENRIKSEN: "We are now seeing bedbugs in what we would consider to be atypical locations: schools and hospitals, retail locations, movie theaters. So, as the numbers have grown, those bed bugs are spreading out and traveling along with people."
亨利克森：“我们现在常常在一些我们认为的非典型场所发现臭虫，像学校，医院，零售店，电影院。所以，随着臭虫数量的增加，它就会随人员流动而扩散。”
New York and other cities have outbreaks. But the United States is not the only country affected.
纽约和其他城市都已经爆发臭虫灾害，但是美国不是唯一一个受影响的国家。
Jeff White is an insect expert who hosts Bed Bug TV on the website BedBug Central.
杰夫·怀特（Jeff White）是一位昆虫专家，他在BedBug Central网站上主持一档叫Bed Bug TV的栏目。
JEFF WHITE: "What has caused this rapid expansion of bedbug infestations -- and the world for that matter -- is the lack of public awareness."
怀特：“造成臭虫全球泛滥的原因是由于人们缺乏公共意识。”
Mr. White says bedbugs nearly disappeared from the United States for fifty or sixty years. Now researchers are looking for faster, safer ways to control them without the kinds of poisons used in the past.
怀特称，过去五六十年，美国臭虫几乎已经灭绝。现在研究者正在寻找更快，更安全的方式来控制它们，而不是像过去一样使用有毒药物。
The name is misleading. Bedbugs do not just live in beds. Mr. White says they can survive for a year without food -- that is, blood.
臭虫的名字其实具有误导性。臭虫不只在床上出现。怀特称，在没有血液做食物的情况下，它们也能活上一年。
Last week, an industry event called BedBug University's North American Summit 2010 took place near Chicago, Illinois. More than three hundred sixty people attended the two-day meeting.
上周，2010年北美消灭臭虫峰会（BedBug University's North American Summit 2010）在伊利诺伊州芝加哥召开，360多人出席了这次为期两天的会议。
The industry says bedbugs as the most difficult pest to control. Treatments can cost from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars in, say, a hotel or apartment building.
业内人士称，臭虫是最难控制的害虫之一，一家酒店或一栋公寓花在控制臭虫的费用要几百到几千美元。
Missy Henriksen says Americans spent almost two hundred sixty million dollars on bedbug treatments last year. That was only five percent of total spending on pest control, she says, but that number does not include other costs.
亨利克森称，美国去年花在控制臭虫上的费用将近2亿6000万美元。这仅仅占害虫控制费用的5%，但是这还不包括其他费用。
MISSY HENRIKSEN: "I think the overall economic impact because of bedbugs is certainly much more significant. We're finding that businesses who have bedbugs oftentimes will close to remediate the problem."
亨利克森：“我认为，由于臭虫泛滥，对整体经济造成了重要的影响。我们发现，受到臭虫困扰的企业不得不停业来解决这个问题。”
Bedbugs have not been shown to spread disease. But they can leave itchy bite marks and cause allergic reactions in some people.
还没有证实臭虫可以传染疾病，但是它们叮咬过的地方会发痒，而且某些人会有过敏反应。
Lately, however, another bug has caught America's attention. The National Pest Management Association is now getting the most questions about stink bugs. Outbreaks have invaded homes and offices in many states.
然而，最近，另一种虫类引起了美国人的注意。美国害虫管理协会正在研究蝽象。在许多州，蝽象已经入侵人们家中和办公室。
Stink bugs are harmless except to farms and gardens. And they smell bad only if you smash them.
蝽象只是对农场和花园有害，在你弄死它们时气味难闻。