Sleep Tight...

Bed bugs were introduced into the Americas by colonists. Sailing ships were notoriously infested with these critters which then hitchhiked with the passengers to the colonies. They continued to be a nuisance until the 1950s when DDT was used to control them and greatly reduce their populations, and therefore the problem people had with them. They essentially disappeared from developed countries, until recently.

Starting in the mid- to late-1990s bed bugs started appearing again, especially in transitory situations like lodging situations. But they have also made a resurgence in nursing homes, hospitals, and homes.

Bed bugs are about 1/4 inch long, with flat oval bodies and reddish-brown in color. Their eggs, about the size of salt grains, are white and "glued" together by the mother. Their bite leaves a flat red spot, often with a lighter red ring around the spot. If you have an allergy to the bite the spot will turn into a welt.

Speculation has it that there are a combination of factors contributing to their reappearance. Pest control approaches have changed from using poisonous sprays to bate traps, a technique that doesn't work on bedbugs as it does with ants and cockroaches. And to date, existing insecticides are ineffective on bed bugs, partially because they may be resistant to the available sprays. Bed bugs are also changing their habits, being active during the day more and moving about more freely between rooms.

Add to the mitigation problems we have increased international travel, temporary and illegal workers moving about and living in sub-standard conditions, and an increase of the purchase of secondhand clothes and furnishings. When people don't recognize bed bugs or infestation signs (and who would when they haven't seen this before) it's harder to control these critters

People, from hotel owners to travelers, don't want to admit they have a problem because of the stigma attached to bed bugs. But it's a potentially serious problem that can't be, excuse the pun, swept under the bed. As of the end of 2008 there are no known diseases, like AIDS or Hepatitis C, that have been spread by bed bugs, but they could play host to organisms that cause hepatitis B ad Chaga's disease.

Other than bites from the bugs the way you know there is an infestation is from the dark red and rust-colored spots on sheets and furniture. Those spots are the blood from the victim and the feces of the bugs.

According to various reports I read there has been a 71 percent increased in bed bug reports between 2000 and 2005. They are found across the U.S. in all manner of public buildings and vehicles. And that percentage is rising. Uh oh, what's to be done?

Addressing the Problem
There are a variety of actions to be taken, some preventative and some reparative. The reparative actions include vacuuming, steam heating or applying hot water to infested surfaces, and a stiff brush can be used to scrub the mattress seams to dislodge bed bugs and eggs. And of course finding the nests and cleaning them out is critical to repairing infested areas. If the outdoor temperatures are below 25 degrees Fahrenheit you can place the infected furnishings outdoors for several hours to kill the bugs and their eggs; be sure to clean the surface before returning the furnishings indoors.

Preventative measures basically are the use of insecticides, usually pyrethroids, applied as spot treatments. The problem with using insecticides is that they are harmful to all living beings, like people and their pets, and insects, like bed bugs, tend to build a resistance to them. Success of getting rid of bed begs at all levels of development/life depends on the treatment selected. In other words, you have to be careful with your preventative measure or you create a worse condition than you started with: not killing all the bugs making room for the offspring grow to be more resistant to insecticides.

Consider using non-toxic preventative measures to both keep bed bugs at bay and to manage infested areas. Temporary barriers help control infested areas, barriers like petroleum jelly around bed legs, caulking cracks and spaces in walls that allow the bugs to migrate, and spreading food-grade diatomaceous earth along the pathways the bugs take to stop their migrations (use precautions if you do this yourself). Organic insect sprays, orange cleaners, aromatic red cedar oil, and enzyme based products may kill bed bugs. There are people who swear by lavender, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, sweet rice and boric acid as deterrents, though I couldn't find any scientific evidence of their effectiveness.

What can hoteliers do? Have housekeeping keep a close eye for signs of bed bugs and report even a tiny incident or suspicion to management for immediate action. Action should include bringing a trained bed bug control company in to mitigate the problem.

What can travelers do? Ask for a different room and hope the hotel isn't widely infested. And if the next room is infested it's time to consider changing hotels and hoping the city isn't so infested you won't find a clean room. Consider traveling with lavender or red cedar oil or spray so if you can't change rooms you can try a natural remedy that may protect you during your stay. Those same oils in your suitcase may help keep you from taking bedbugs home. Maybe bedbugs are a good reason to check your baggage when you fly so you can freeze any that sneaked into your suitcase so you don't infest your home or the next place you stop.

What's the ultimate solution? That I don't have a ready answer for. I expect science will have to look for and develop an effective control for bed bugs. Since bed bugs can live over a year without food it's going to be quite an adventure for travelers and hoteliers until we can once again be rid of bed bugs.

An interesting pesticide discussion, including comments about bed bugs, is happening at WeGetGreener.com on the article titled Ant Wars.