Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bedbugs and traveling

Bedbugs can be picked up anywhere and unfortunately you are most susceptible during travel. Millions of bags go through the baggage system in an airport and hundreds of bags are put into the airplane luggage storage, not to mention the carry on area. This cycle happens daily if not several times a day for that airplane. All it takes is one of those bags to have bedbugs and the possibility of contamination is high. The same goes for trains and buses. You can also pick up bedbugs while simply sitting in a airplane, bus, or train seat after a person with bedbugs have sat there and get them. Same is true for cruises. All those bags are taken and stored and then placed outside your door. Who knows where those bags have been. The unfortunate truth is bedbugs are here to stay and it may turn into a situation where it is not a matter of "if" but a matter of "when" someone gets infested with bedbugs. You can limited your chances by educating yourself about bedbugs, know what and where to look for them after you have checked into a hotel or cruise. How about your bags you ask, well I'm afraid you are left to chance in this area. There are items for sale at online pest control stores that you can spray your bag with, but you have to ask yourself if you want to have your clothing laying in with chemicals. You can buy these products, one of them is a luggage spray made by J. T. Eaton, and spray the outside I suppose. Here's an idea, buy a large enough zip lock bag and place your luggage in this. What we really need is the bed bug silver bullet. Maybe one day we will find it.

No comments: