Bed Bugs: Traveling This Summer? Here’s What You Should Know

Once limited to scenarios of poor housing or substandard living conditions, bed bugs are now quite common in homes and otherwise well-maintained lodgings such as hotels.

Their spread into more typical, everyday living spaces has largely been a result of worldwide travel. Another factor is the pest’s increasing resistance to common methods of chemical control. While bed bug bites are certainly an annoyance and can lead to more troublesome skin consequences, bed bugs aren’t considered a public health threat since they don’t carry other diseases like fleas and ticks can.

Prevent bed bugs from hitching a ride into your home by taking these steps on your next trip:

• When traveling, place luggage on luggage racks or shelves. Keep them off the bed and the carpeted floor.
• Examine the bed’s sheets, mattress and headboard before turning in for the night.
• When you get home, make sure clothes go straight from the suitcase into the washing machine.
• Should bed bugs find their way into your home, first try some simple methods to thwart the problem. After washing bedding and clothes, dry at a high temperature to kill the bugs. All articles should be heated at least to 113 degrees for an hour. Also, utilize special encasements on the mattress, box springs and pillows designed to trap the bugs and reveal infestations.

Often the DIY approach isn’t sufficient to rid a home of a bed bug problem, and you’ll need the services of a pest control pro. A comprehensive, integrated pest management strategy is usually required to get control of the infestation. The best results occur from a multi-tiered approach.

Over 300 products are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and approved for use in controlling bed bugs. Your pest control technician can select the proper chemicals and apply them in a manner consistent with safe use and effectiveness. In addition, he or she will advise you on steps required to prevent recurrence of the infestation.
Since 1975, Haggerty Services has served south Florida homeowners with professional pest control services. Count on us for safe, environmentally-friendly treatments to eliminate bug bugs from your home.