“Worry Over Bedbugs Spreads To Hotels”

Posted: 03 Feb 2011 08:16 PM PST

POSTED: 7:50 pm EST February 3, 2011
UPDATED: 1:03 pm EST February 4, 2011

BALTIMORE -- Bedbugs are worrying many travelers who stay in hotels, according to a recent survey.Federal agencies recently converged at a two-day national summit about bedbugs, which scientists call cimex lectularius. For many others, it's a tiny bloodsucking parasite enjoying the comeback of the century -- so much so that 80 percent of respondents to a recent survey are worried about finding bedbugs at hotels."The general public is scared to death of going to a hotel where there might be bedbugs and taking them home," said Wayne White, a board certified entomologist and member of the National Pest Management Association. "I didn't even hear of bedbugs for years. Your grandmother would say, 'Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite,' but it's not funny anymore," said Jeannine Harden, a traveler. "It's not a joke. They're back."Harden showed the I-Team a souvenir, of sorts, from a summer trip to Ocean City: a bottle containing a bedbug that she said she found crawling on the wall of a motel in Salisbury."It creeped me out," Harden said. "We grabbed our stuff, ran down the stairs and put everything in the car."

"It stopped me from traveling a lot, to be honest. There were a lot of trips my friends and I planned that we said no, we're not going."

- Jeannine Harden

Not even a quarter-inch long, the bedbug put the brakes on Harden's plans."It stopped me from traveling a lot, to be honest," she said. "There were a lot of trips my friends and I planned that we said no, we're not going."Harden said she registered a complaint with the Bedbug Registry, a growing online database of thousands of user-submitted reports on locations all across the country, covering the no-tell motel to the five-star resort.The I-Team sought to find out what's fueling some 20,000 reports -- hysteria or a real pandemic.

I-Team Puts Complaints To Test

Longtime Maryland public health officer Dr. Peter Beilenson, put some of the online complaints to the test. Unannounced, Beilenson and I-Team reporter Deborah Weiner recently visited hotels in the Baltimore-Washington area that had more than one complaint about bedbugs. At the time of the I-Team's investigation, several complaints were filed against some hotels."You're looking for a little bug the size of an apple seed," Beilenson said while searching one of the rooms in the investigation.As is recommended, Beilenson and the I-Team looked in crevices under bedding and under mattresses, in mattress tags, in box springs and even in drawers that contained Bibles."Except for a heavily worn mattress and other unpleasant stains, it doesn't look like it has bedbugs," Beilenson said at one location.They checked stains with a magnifying glass, and while they found some unpleasant things, the investigation uncovered no bedbugs. In seven hotel rooms ranging in price from $55 to $189 per day, they found no bedbugs.

Bedbugs 'Hide So Well'

White said the I-Team inspected rooms properly and that he believes the hotel industry takes this issue seriously. He said bedbugs can be tricky for all hotels, homes and public places. "About a third of the time, a human inspection can find a small infestation because they hide so well," White said. "They are almost the thickness of a business card. So, they can hide in a lot of places that (makes it) really hard to see them."Because bedbugs are so small, trained dogs are used to sniff them out."Dogs that are trained to alert bedbug infestations are effective 95 percent of the time," White said.During a demonstration for the I-Team, a dog named Gizmo found a hidden test tube on numerous occasions that contained live bedbugs.When traveling, the experts recommend placing belongings away from hotel bedding. Instead, put them on desks or in bathrooms."I think we have to be vigilant and we have to take precautions because we won't always know whether they are there or not," White said.Harden, who is finally taking trips again, said she puts everything in large plastic bags.

What You've Told Us On Facebook ...

WBAL-TV 11's fans on Facebook are weighing in on the creepy, crawly pests, saying:

Frankie Rivera: "Bedbugs are definitely a problem, and it's not easy for a homeowner to rid themselves of these pests with over-the-counter products. Be aware, they are out there in full force."Yvonne Harvey Burton: "I was told that they are even in seats at the movies and on airplanes."Beth Keyser: "No bedbugs, but is anyone still having problems with the stink bugs? They are still coming out of everywhere in the house."Melody Kincer: "I moved out of an apartment because I had bedbugs for months. There was sporadic treatment so there was only temporary relief. It was awful."

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