Are you having a problem with bedbugs? Where do you get these pests? How do bed bugs travel and move from one place to another? Understanding how bed bugs travel is important for effective prevention and control.
Bed Bugs move from one place to another through travel and transportation, where these pests crawl and hide in luggage. You can also bring them home and spread them to your place by buying infested secondhand furniture and clothes. Apartments and Multi-unit dwellings, where these pests travel from nearby units to your place through shared walls and pipes, pets that carry the pest from outside to inside your home, and indirect transmission, where you get the pests from places you visit and co-visitors.
Bed bugs also travel through boxes and packages, such as shipping containers, where they move from containers through cargo employees and packages, Delivery riders, where the packages being delivered are infested with these pests, and lastly, moving to your new home, where you can transfer bed bugs from your previous home to your new one.
Their presence in your home and other settings is causing discomfort and other health issues. Knowing how these pests travel will help you avoid having bed bug bites on your skin. This article will discuss how bed bugs move from one location to another and will educate you on how they travel.
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HOW BED BUG TRAVEL
These little annoying pests are travelers. They can easily travel through our personal belongings to several places. They can also enter your house without knowing by buying second hand or used items. Not only that, you can also bring home with you these pests when you travel and check in an infested hotel room, because bed bugs can hitch in your luggage secretly.
To learn more about bed bugs and how Bed Bugs attract, here’s our article to know the 7 things that attract bed bugs in your home.
Below are the details of possible things and places where you can encounter bed bugs and how they travel.
Travel and Transportation
The first thing on the list of how bed bug insects travel is through travel and transportation. They can ride on your luggage, clothing, or personal items. This is very common in hotels and motels that are infested. Travelers or visitors may carry them in their luggage or on their clothes. Bed bugs can also travel or be transported by public transportation like buses, subways, and trains. An infected person or individual can transfer these pests onto seats or personal belongings.
Airports and train stations are also one factor of transferring bed bugs. Overly populated areas can make bed bugs easily spread through belongings.
Bed bugs are renowned for their potential ability to cause restless nights and anxiety. See our article What Effects of Bed Bug Attacks on Mental Health and Well-being.
Second-Hand and Clothes
Buying secondhand furniture and clothes in a thrift store is one reason your place is infested with bed bugs. Secondhand furniture like mattresses and box springs can be a temporary home for bed bugs because they can survive in these items for months without feeding. When you buy an infested secondhand item and bring it home, it will start to spread to your place.
Apartments and Multi-Unit Dwelling
An apartment complex and multi-unit dwelling is also one of the factors of bed bug spreading. Bed bugs can spread through shared walls and pipes; they can move from your unit to another through cracks and crevices in walls, floors and ceiling. They can also pass through lines for plumbing and electricity.
If an infestation is not quickly controlled, nearby apartments can be easily infected, too. You can see our article to Help Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Your Home.
Infectious Animals and Items
Bed bugs do not actually infect animals, but they can carry the pests into our homes through an infested animal or animal carrier. An animal who carries bed bugs can easily transport them to our homes. They can transport them to objects like furniture, luggage, or even items like books and electronics.
Indirect Transmission
Bed bugs can spread indirectly through our visitors and guests. An individual who visits an infested place can carry bed bugs back to their place through their bags, clothing, or other personal items.
Cleaning or maintenance staff who work in hotels, motels, dormitories, and other facilities may carry bed bugs back to their homes or spread them by moving infested items or equipment from one area to another.
BED BUG TRAVEL THROUGH BOXES AND PACKAGES
Yes, Bed bug insects can travel through boxes and packages, such as shipping containers, moving to another house, and delivery services that are already infested. Bed bugs’ ability to be unnoticed makes it hard to detect them during these travels. That is why having ideas on how these bed bug insects travel through packages will help you prevent them from entering your house.
Shipping Containers
Bed bugs can travel through shipping containers, especially if the contents are infested with bed bugs. When a container is already infested, bed bugs can travel to any nearby containers or hitch a ride to cargo handlers and then move to every location where items are dropped or shipped.
Delivery Services
Bed bugs can hitch a ride on delivery riders, especially if the packages they deliver are infested with these pests. It is possible that these packages are infested in shipping warehouses. Infested packages that are delivered to your home will start the infestation.
Moving to Another House
Bed bugs can also travel when you are moving to another house. If your previous home is infested with these pests, they can hide on boxes, furniture, and other belongings, starting the bed bug infestation in your new house.
Make sure to disinfect the items or packages being delivered to your home to prevent bed bug insects from infesting your place. Use protective covers on your belongings when you move to your new home. Knowing how these pests travel will help prevent bed bug infestation in your home.
