Bite Back with Bed Bugs on the Rise

(NC)-There's no doubt: bed bugs are still biting.

According to experts at Orkin Canada, the bed bug resurgence can likely be contributed to an increase in travel, changes in treatments, and incorrect management of infestations, among other factors. The pests' nocturnal habits and ability to survive for a year without a meal, in extreme temperatures and in almost any location - from homes to hotels to cruise ships - only add to the challenge.

The size of an apple seed, adult bed bugs are flat, oval-shaped insects that are light tan to brown in color. Bed bugs feed only on blood, and the pests swell and turn a reddish color after eating.

"Bed bugs are great hitchhikers and can travel easily from place to place," said Orkin Director of Quality Assurance Zia Siddiqi, Ph.D. "Anyone is susceptible to an infestation - we've treated multiple infestations in the past year in homes, small motels and luxury resorts. While it's never been proven that bed bugs transmit disease, it's important to stop an infestation before it gets out of hand."

To help identify and prevent bed bugs, travelers should follow these tips:

. Monitor for small brown or red stains on sheets that emit a musty, sweet odor, similar to soda pop syrup.

. Check for the pests along mattress seams and tags and behind baseboards and headboards. Bed bugs travel 15 to 20 feet to feed, so examine furniture (upholstered, wood, or even metal) and window treatments near the bed, as well.

. Be on the lookout for itchy, bloody welts on the skin, which may be a result of bed bug bites.

. After traveling, wash all clothing immediately and keep the luggage outside of the living space - preferably in the garage.

. Trap any suspicious pests and show them to a pest management professional immediately.

Bed bugs are extremely difficult to treat, so trust an experienced professional to determine the best treatment options. More information is available online at http://www.orkincanada.ca or toll-free at 1-800-800-ORKIN.

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Hotel and Bed bugs

Before you are selecting a hotel, you may want to find information and reviews of the hotel that you want to go. Some guests who’ve had bed bugs problems report it on the internet, you can find a good hotel with search engine . But in the hotel have many room, a information that you're read may not true 100%. You may be unlucky selecting the bed bugs infest room and that room still not exterminate a bed bugs. I will suggest you how to check the bed bugs in your room before them feed your blood.

- Check the mattress peel back the bedsheets and check the mattress.

Bed bugs on mattress tag

Bed bugs on mattress seam

- Check the headboard removing and examining hotel bed headboard if possible.

Bed bugs on bed headboard

- Don't treat a bed bugs by yourself if you detect a bed bugs, you should inform hotel management and request new room.
- Check bed bugs of new room if you change to new room you should repeat the thorough inspection of any new or different room.
- Check you pack when you leave don't forget to check any item in you pack, because bed bugs can transport from the hotel to your home with cloth or baggage.

No sleeping tight when hotel bedbugs bite

Bedbug infestations are more than an itchy problem for hotels across North America. They are becoming more expensive as at least one tourist is suing after she says she spent a night in an infested hotel bed.

"I received more than 650 bites," alleges Eunice Juarez, a tourist from Mexico who is suing a Los Angeles-area hotel.

It can take multiple visits from an exterminator to find all the bedbugs and eggs lurking in bedding and upholstery.
It can take multiple visits from an exterminator to find all the bedbugs and eggs lurking in bedding and upholstery.
(CBC)

Juarez said she stayed one night at the Marriott International in August, and claims that she and her two teenage sons went to the hospital instead of Disneyland.

"When she woke up, she was covered with blood," said Juarez's lawyer, Alan Schnurman. "The sheets were full of blood."

The approximately five-millimetre-long bedbug is not a disease carrier, but it is a nuisance, causing itchy, painful welts to rise on bitten skin. In some cases, the bites can become seriously infected.

One veteran exterminator in L.A. says that 20 years ago, he had few calls about bedbugs. But now pest-control companies are juggling jobs from panicked hoteliers across the country.

"They lose a lot of money because, you know, this is a tourist town," said David Rike, manager of Dewey Pest Control in L.A. "Sometimes we just tell them to just get rid of the bed."

The pests are hard to eradicate, and are enjoying a renaissance in part because they escape eco-friendly measures such as ant and cockroach traps that have replaced conventional bug sprays.

The bites are making for bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived guests at four-star hotels in many North American cities, and pest control experts say some travellers are taking the bugs home in their luggage.

Even if guests think their trip was bedbug-free, they advise people to unpack in the garage and launder their travel clothes quickly, in case the bugs hitched a ride.

Source : http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/10/13/bedbugs-hotels.html