Dark Banquet - Bill Schutt [72]
Dr. Tamson Yeh, an entomologist at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, had her own hypothesis as to how bed bugs were getting around big cities like New York.
“Taxis,” she told me during a visit to her office in Riverhead, Long Island. “People put their bags or suitcases down next to the curb and bed bugs can climb right on—or climb right off.”
“Jeez,” I chimed in, “and just think about how many people are traveling all over the world and then tossing their suitcases into the trunks of cabs when they get home.”
“It’s the perfect environment,” Tammy said. “Dark, dry, plenty of places to hide…”
“And how often do cabbies sanitize their trunks?”
“Exactly.”
Once limited to movement from cave to cave or nest to nest, as bed bugs became associated with humans, it was no stretch for them to migrate from room to room or apartment to apartment. Now, however, Cimex infestations are spreading across cities, between states, and even to different countries. So right up there among the multiple reasons for the twenty-first-century resurgence in bed bugs, cheap, fast, long distance transportation is near the top of the list.
According to pest-control expert Andy Linares, “Sometimes outbreaks can be traced to overseas travel since it’s pretty easy to pick up bed bugs from cruise ships, resorts, hotel rooms, or hostels.”
“My cousin’s kid just got back from a hosteling trip through Australia,” I said.
Andy shook his head. “The media is full of reports of people bringing back bed bugs after spending big bucks at top-notch hotels or spectacular resorts. And hostels? That’s scary.”
The bug man went on to explain how basically any place that has a high resident turnover rate (e.g., shelters, dorms, hostels, hotels, and apartment buildings) pretty much fits the bill as a potential source for passive introduction.
“So where are the trendy bed bugs heading nowadays?” I asked.
“Eastern Europe is a hotbed of bed bug activity,” he said. “And England has a huge problem.”
Apparently, a suitcase or backpack, opened or even set down in an infested room can serve as a sort of bed bug version of the Trojan horse. And on a related note, by placing your clothes into a hotel dresser drawer in an infested room, you can also easily pick up some unwelcome traveling companions.
To minimize the risk, Andy recommended that travelers examine their rooms before bringing in their luggage and other belongings. Although this might sound a bit extreme, he stressed the following preventive measures as the least you should do: Start your search at the corner of the bed nearest to the clock alarm. Carefully lift up the sheet and the mattress cover and examine the mattress, especially around buttons or along the raised seam. Using a flashlight if necessary, look for fecal stains (tiny, dark-colored raised bumps) or for the bed bugs themselves (flattened apple seeds with legs). Then lift the corner of the mattress and look at that section of the box spring. Use your flashlight again to examine the space between the headboard and the wall. If you’re still suspicious, look under pillows and inside pillowcases. Bed bugs can live in the clock alarm, the nightstand, or even the bedside lamp. If you find any bed bugs or even any fecal stains (which appear as pinhead-sized raised dots, usually dark brown in color), leave immediately and insist on another room. Of course, you should repeat your inspection in the new room and be prepared to “bail” on the hotel, if need be. Finally, while traveling, keep luggage elevated off the floor and check it carefully for unwanted hitchhikers. Hard plastic suitcases are more resistant to bed bugs than fabric suitcases