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Hello, my name is Brian and I work for JP McHale Pest Management Inc, located in New York. New York is one of the most visited cities in the world, and also creates a large problem in hotels to maintain rooms for bed bug activity.
Once though to be eradicated in the 1950s with, now off the market, DDT, bed bugs are making a comeback. 10 years ago, bed bug calls were rare. Today we receive 5-10 calls a day regarding possible bed bug infestations.
Bed bugs are small nocturnal pests that live in your room. Bed bugs can be found in your mattress, in your pillows, in your headboard, drawers and even lampshades. They feed off human blood, and females can lay 3-5 eggs per day. Bed bugs are transmitted by sleeping at other people's homes, or having visitors sleep over. They are transmitted most commonly by luggage.
New York has a lot of cases mainly because of the city. Hotels and motels are booked on a daily basis, and having one person stay in a room with bed bugs, can give everyone else that stays in the room bed bugs, unless detected. Sanitation is not an issue as a 5 star hotel has the same chance of getting infested as a motel. Early detection is key, and now inspections are becoming easier, cheaper and more efficient with K-9 bed bug inspection dogs. Human inspections are slow, inefficient and time consuming when they have to inspection 100's of rooms.
Bed bugs are a serious issue, and you should take several preventative measures when you travel to ensure you do not run into bed bugs.
- Check with your hotel or motel if they do weekly bed bug inspections.
- Always use the luggage rack in the closet. It will keep clothes off the floor and prevent bed bugs from getting into your luggage.
- Do a quick inspection on the mattress for small crawling bugs or possible blood stains which is common if bed bugs are present.
- When you return home, wash all your clothes and keep luggage in large garbage bags.
I would like to thank Clark Pest Control for allowing me to write a blog post for them. JP McHale Pest Management does bed bug inspections and treatment in the tri state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. We also have a K-9 bed bug inspection dog on staff.