Bed bugs have infested two units of an Opp Housing Authority apartment complex, officials said Thursday.

Officials did not say which of the three – Barnes Street, Carver Court or Williams Road – had the problem, but did say that they are in the process of getting an exterminator to fix the problem.

Board member Charles Willis said it will cost about $1,200 per unit.

“Bed bugs are not good to sleep with,” Willis said. “They are hard to get rid of.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, bedbugs are reddish brown, oval and flat, about the size of an apple seed. During the day, they hide in the cracks and crevices of beds, box springs, headboards and bed frames.

Cook’s Pest Control representative Jerry Johnson said that it takes a while, depending on the size of the home, to get rid of infestations.

“It’s a monotonous process,” he said. “It’s very detailed in that every crack and crevice has to be treated. It sometimes takes three to four hours per trip. The quicker you find them the better.”

Johnson said that bed bugs are nocturnal.

“If you see them out in the daytime, that means the infestation is pretty bad,” he said.

Johnson said in a case where bed bugs are found in an apartment complex, they treat the infested apartment, and each apartment above, below and beside.

Residents who have found bed bugs must take all their bed linens and things of that nature that can be washed and get them out of the house.

“They must be cleaned and placed in a new, separate bag,” he said.

Johnson said there is really no way to prevent them.

“You can bring them in on luggage or someone can bring them with them,” he said. “Good sanitary conditions do help.”

Johnson said they are seeing more and more of the problem.

“It really does depend on the area,” he said. “It really is a nationwide problem.”