Bedbugs like to relax in dirty laundry and use suitcases as a means of transportation to travel between countries, according to results of a study published in the medical journal Scientific Reports.
Although not known to transmit disease, bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) can cause stinging and allergic reactions. Unlike ticks or lice, bedbugs are not travelers. So how do they move and how did they invade the United States and part of Europe?
Suitcases for hitchhiking
“For me, hitchhiking seemed like the best explanation,” says William Hentley, an entomologist from the University of Sheffield in the UK, author of the study. “It led me to understand how they are attracted to our clothes and the smell of humans and how they travel.”
The researchers carried out experiments in two identical rooms and at controlled temperatures in which four bags were placed in the presence of bedbugs.
Two contained soiled clothing and the others were clean. In each test, one room received an increase in CO² concentration to simulate human breathing.
The results of the study showed that in the absence of a human host, bedbugs were twice as likely to lodge in bags with soiled clothing than in clean ones.
The results suggest that insects are attracted to residual body odor in a dirty laundry, so worn out clothing left in an open suitcase or on the floor of an infested room may attract them.
“We have established that in the absence of their human host, bed bugs leave their shelters and congregate in bags with soiled clothing,” said William Hentley of the University of Sheffield in the UK, co-author of the study.
Avoid leaving dirty clothes in a room
Bed bugs are a huge problem for hotels, especially in some of the busiest cities around the world. Once the rooms are infested, they can be very difficult to clean.
“Our study suggests that keeping dirty laundry in a sealed bag, especially in a hotel, could reduce the chances of people carrying bedbugs and reduce the spread of infestations,” advised Dr William Hentley.
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