Traveling for the Holidays? Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

Do you plan to stay in a hotel during the holidays this year? If so, do you know how to look for bed bugs and prevent them from coming home with you? UC IPM can help. We have detailed information as well as videos to help make your holidays bed bug-free.

Why Do Hotels Harbor Bed Bugs?

Until recently, bed bugs were typically associated with crowded and run-down hotels or housing. However, bed bug infestations are on the rise and can even be found in the finest hotels! The reason for this pest's resurgence isn't totally understood, but appears to involve increased global travel, ease of movement of infested items, widespread insecticide resistance, and changes in pesticides available for control.

What are Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are blood-sucking insects that prefer a human host, and although an annoyance, they are not known to harbor any diseases. When people are bitten, they often mistake the bites for other pests such as mosquitoes, fleas or spiders. The only way to confirm a bite was caused by a bed bug is to find the bugs or their signs -- the bed bug itself, fecal spots, or eggs.

Prevention

The best way to make sure you don't have bed bugs in your hotel room is to look for them. Inspect the beds in your room as soon as you arrive. If you suspect the room has bed bugs, change rooms or hotels. You also don't want to accidentally introduce bed bugs into your homes in luggage or on clothes after visiting an infested hotel.

These 2-minute videos, “How to inspect for bed bugs” and “Don't bring bed bugs home when you travel” show photos of different biting insects, detail how to inspect hotel rooms for signs of bed bugs before you settle in, and discuss ways to ensure you don't bring any bed bugs home with you.

To learn more about bed bugs, read the UC IPM Pest Note: Bed Bugs. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7454.html

We wish you a happy and pest-free holiday season!