Lice were recently discovered at the McKaten Library and Kilwan Music Hall in Maryland, and school staff treated the affected areas.
According to the CDC, in contrast to head lice that live on eyebrows and eyelashes, lice live in clothes, bedding and linen and sprinkle on anyone using them.
The university’s pest control management team found evidence of blood-sucking insects in the restroom at the fourth floor of the McKelding Library and at the Kilwan Hall, academic building. The school’s health center said in a press release Friday that both areas were processed and staff were detecting other areas to ensure they did not get infected with body lice.
The health center did not say how lice enter the two areas.
To prevent the spread of lice in the body, the health center recommends washing clothes, bedding and towels with hot water, then drying on the hottest environment, vacuum carpets and furniture, and sealing items that cannot be washed with plastic bags.
“I washed all my bedding, washed all my clothes, and put my stuffed animals and duvets through the dryer. I felt like I was going crazy,” UMD freshman Samantha Ross told WTOP-FM.
