Bringing Bedbugs Back from Holiday

It’s almost the end of the school summer holidays already. For many families this is the time to prepare for the new school year ahead. They’ve probably been on holiday for a week or two and stayed in accommodation in one area or another. It makes a refreshing change – but it’s possible to bring back home rather more than you bargained for.

Enter the bedbug. No one likes the idea of bedbugs, but few homes are actually plagued with them. The only trouble is, this is the prime time of the year when people bring them back from guest accommodation they’ve been staying in around the UK.

We’re not saying all guest accommodation is ridden with bedbugs – far from it. However there is a slim chance you might have ended up staying somewhere that has bedbugs present. Cimex lectularius, as they are commonly known, tend to come out at night… just when you are going to bed. They love nothing more than feeding on your blood by biting you. As such it isn’t surprising to wake up in the morning and find you have several bites on your body.

The good news is you won’t be at risk of catching anything nasty from bedbugs. However you don’t really want them in your bedding either. That’s why you should identify whether you do actually have them, and if you do, get them properly treated so you don’t end up with a serious infestation.

You may be forgiven for thinking you’ve been bitten by a mosquito when you see the bites, because they look very similar and itch in the same way. However bedbug bites usually occur in a straight line. The bedbug will wander along your skin biting you as it goes. Mosquitoes don’t do this.

While you can buy products to treat an infestation on your own, it is very difficult to treat it successfully. The best course of action is always to call in a pest control firm with experience in this area. If you’ve been on holiday and brought bedbugs back home with you without realising, call a local pest control firm as soon as you suspect you have an infestation. The sooner they can treat the problem the sooner you will be rid of them, and the fewer bugs you’ll have to get rid of in the first place. Then you can get on with returning to normal life.