Ealing Central Library closes after bed bugs are spotted in furnishings. Pest controllers in London report being "inundated" with calls about the blood-sucking insects and say their spread is "out of control".
These horrid things were almost nonexistent in most of the western world for decades (DDT was a vile chemical, but it used to actually stop them long ago and made them nearly extinct in most places) but the modern neoliberal age of world tourism brought them back from the brink with a vengeance and with a lot more chemical resistances than they used to have.
My understanding is short of full-scale fumigation, steaming everything effected is the only really reliable method of dealing with them right now. They are too resistant to everything else.
It's very, very dire. And way too many people just don't care and don't take precautions when traveling and bring them back with them and continue the spread, often without knowing it. 10% of people don't notice bed bug bites at all, and more than that barely itch from them, and the rest get horrid blistery allergic reactions that can last weeks and that's if the bites stop coming, which they won't in an ongoing infestation.
Oh I work in hospitality, it's something we are VERY concerned about. Albeit I am not in housekeeping, but we test very often and have local pest control basically on retainer in case something comes up. Steaming all the linens is fairly standard, but it only takes one case spreading to ruin a hotel.
Sometimes steaming linens is not enough if they get into headboards, box springs, the joints and screw holes of furniture, or power sockets or otherwise in the walls.
They're a plague of apathy. The more they're allowed to entrench, the harder they are to remove. It's criminal negligence that a lot of places don't even steam the linens, though at least it's something.
These horrid things were almost nonexistent in most of the western world for decades (DDT was a vile chemical, but it used to actually stop them long ago and made them nearly extinct in most places) but the modern neoliberal age of world tourism brought them back from the brink with a vengeance and with a lot more chemical resistances than they used to have.
My understanding is short of full-scale fumigation, steaming everything effected is the only really reliable method of dealing with them right now. They are too resistant to everything else.
It's very, very dire. And way too many people just don't care and don't take precautions when traveling and bring them back with them and continue the spread, often without knowing it. 10% of people don't notice bed bug bites at all, and more than that barely itch from them, and the rest get horrid blistery allergic reactions that can last weeks and that's if the bites stop coming, which they won't in an ongoing infestation.
Oh I work in hospitality, it's something we are VERY concerned about. Albeit I am not in housekeeping, but we test very often and have local pest control basically on retainer in case something comes up. Steaming all the linens is fairly standard, but it only takes one case spreading to ruin a hotel.
Sometimes steaming linens is not enough if they get into headboards, box springs, the joints and screw holes of furniture, or power sockets or otherwise in the walls.
They're a plague of apathy. The more they're allowed to entrench, the harder they are to remove. It's criminal negligence that a lot of places don't even steam the linens, though at least it's something.