A Wayne County high school dismissed students early Thursday and will be closed Friday after a bed bug sighting, the school's principal said.
Tolsia High Principal Reva Sanders-Wallace said a teacher and students discovered the insect in a classroom.
"It was secured, sealed in a plastic bag and brought to my attention," Sanders-Wallace said.
She said an exterminator, a school nurse, Tolsia High biology teachers and the Wayne County Health Department confirmed it was a bed bug. The school - which is located near the Kentucky border and serves the communities of Ft. Gay and Crum - dismissed students about two hours early Thursday, and Sanders-Wallace said it will be closed Friday so exterminators can treat the building.
She didn't know late Thursday how much of the building would be treated, but said students should return Monday.
"We wanted to address it from the onset, from the very first sighting, before it became an issue," Sanders-Wallace said.
She said the sighting doesn't indicate an infestation, and it shouldn't be seen as a reflection of Tolsia High.
"It's a venue where you have a great number of people convening, children coming from various homes and various environments and various situations, and it is not isolated to us," she said. "This occurs in many different school districts nationwide."
The term "bed bugs" includes different species of small parasites that feed on the blood of humans and animals while they sleep, according the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC doesn't consider them a health hazard and says they don't transmit disease, though they can cause allergic reactions.
"Bed bugs have been found in five-star hotels and resorts and their presence is not determined by the cleanliness of the living conditions where they are found," the CDC's website states.