California is rapidly becoming the new natural home for bed bugs. Hotels in Southern California have now become victim to bed bug infestations. Several pest control companies have reported a great increase in the number of complaint calls from hotels and motels in Southern California. These typically service the vast amount of tourist trade in this area.
In the past, bed bugs have only really been associated with homes for transients. This is probably due to the general poor conditions found in this type of housing in combination with the large number of visitors that generally come from other poor accommodation. In these situations, bed bugs easily get passed from one building to another. There are therefore some similarities in the way hotel guests move from one hotel to another.
It is thought that guests carry the bed bugs in luggage from previous accommodation that already have an infestation problem. They may also transfer the bed bugs in items bought from infested homes. Many people touring the area will stay in several hotels or motels during their trip. This means that the bed bugs get readily transported from one building to another. Bed bugs therefore get established in the accommodation on tourist routes. This can lead to a cycle of infestation and reinfestation.
Bed bugs haven’t been identified as being responsible for the transfer of diseases to humans, although it is known that they are capable of carrying a number of disease causing organisms. The main medical problem relating to bed bugs is the bed bugs rash, which follows numerous bites in a particular area of the body. It is thought that local inflammation and itching is caused by the allergic reaction to bed bug saliva introduced during the bed bug feeding process. This gives the bed bug symptoms. Not all bed bug bite victims react in this way to the bites. Some individuals show no or very little reaction at all. Never the less, many others get considerable irritation from the bites, which lead to restless and irregular sleep.
Bed bugs are also quite prolific and rapid reproducers. From egg to adult it can take as little as 37 days. This is a very quick life cycle, and enables female bed bugs to produce up to 500 eggs in their lifetime. Bed bugs can survive for starvation periods of between 80 to 140 days. These features make the bed bug very suited to the infestation of hotels and motels in the Southern California area.
Hotel infestation is not the end of the story. After their holiday tourists will, of course, return to their homes. Travellers can unwittingly take the pests home, after staying in infested hotel and motel rooms. Bed bugs can also hide away in boxes or furniture items being moved from one place to another. Second hand items such as furniture and mattresses bought at thrift shops have become a further source of bed bugs.
Once bed bugs have got into the home they quickly find hiding places in cracks and crevices. In new infestations bed bugs will tend to find refuge near to, or in the bed. The first signs of bed bug infestation may be speckles or streaks of blood on the bed linen. This is caused by the bed bug’s feeding wounds bleeding, for a short time after it has removed its mouth parts from the skin. The mattress is a typical hiding place, especially the ribbing and buttons of the mattress. Bed bugs are gregarious and therefore many individuals will be found in convenient hiding places. Here, clumps of small yellow coloured eggs may be found together with a tar like substance made up of the bed bug’s excrement. Empty egg shells and bed bug skin, cast off during its growth, may be seen in the immediate area. The key to eliminating a bed bug infestation is to find all of the hiding places that are used. Once identified you just have to know how to kill bed bug and this can be found from bed bugs info. After killing them you need to concentrate on bed bug prevention.
Until the cycle of infestation and reinfestation of hotels is broken, you can be sure that bed bugs will be saying ‘Welcome to the hotel California’ and welcome to your blood and home! Check out if your hotel has had a bed bug infestation reported.
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