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OMG: am I in for BIG trouble? (time sensitive BB help)
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Japangela
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Joined: Jul '09
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 13:45:15
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I am a mom on vacation with a combined family of 18 people traveling in a bus. On the first night of our travels we stayed in a hotel suite all together, continued to my dad's house for a night, and lastly at a private vacation rental home with six bedrooms. About the fourth day in the rental home I noticed what looked like a cross between a pimple and a mosquito bite that was tender but not really itchy. I didn't remember seeing Mosquitos or getting bit, so I ignored it. The next day I had four more bites. But now I have enen more bites!
So I inspected the sheets and mattress and found some flat, black debris on and in the bedding, only one location of circular bits of shedding in the corner of the matress seam, and caught one bug that is very dark brown. It was crawling, and I believe swollen with a meal. Male.
Everything fits the description of bed bugs. But none of the other 17 people, including my husband who sleeps with me (but has a skin condition) has any evidence if bites.
We are leaving in two days. What can I do to prevent bringing the bugs home with us short of stripping everyone before entering our house when we get home? Please advise!
Angela
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DrFrank
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 14:49:11
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http://bedbugger.com/2007/08/05/faq-i-stayed-somewhere-that-had-bed-bugs-what-do-i-do-to-keep-from-taking-them-home/
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/travel/Imagine yourself in two weeks: You've taken precautions, and you hope that you killed any bugs that hitched back with you, but of course you can't be totally sure. Have you spent the past two weeks worrying that there might be bedbugs in your house? Imagine that after two weeks you wake up one morning and notice a red welt on your arm. Maybe that's a mosquito, fly, or spider bite? Maybe it's not... How much money are you going to spend finding out? How many hours do you spend that morning cleaning and investigating? Do you have to go to work that day, or will you burn one of your vacation days or call in sick so you can spend more time investigating and worrying? How are you going to feel around your friends and coworkers, trying to decide whether or not you should tell them that you might have a bed bug infestation? Are you going to make up excuses for not having people over? If you go over to other peoples' houses, are you going to spend the time feeling worried that you might be infesting them? How much shame are you going to feel, for how long?
With all of that in mind, consider: Do you have anything with you that you couldn't replace with a quick trip to the mall once you're back home? If you could pay someone today that could guarantee you that you wouldn't develop an infestation in your home, how much would you pay them? Is the luggage and clothing you've brought with you definitely worth more than what you'd pay such a wizard?
By all accounts, bed bug infestations are still increasing at hotels. If you've got luggage that you can't just throw in the dryer or oven when you get home, are you going to worry about that luggage every time you get home after a trip? Do you still want that stuff?
Since you're traveling with such a large group of people, presumably some of whom are going to visit each other again, I'd recommend opening the topic for discussion, immediately. Come with your facts, though, and watch out for anyone that your intuition tells you isn't taking the issue seriously enough. (In a group that size, there's going to be at least one person that thinks they'll just be careful with their stuff when they get home, but will, at the end of a long, exhausting day of travel, actually get sloppy.) Walk through the process with such people: Ask them to imagine that they've arrived home, with all their bags. They're standing outside. What do they do? Do they bring the bags inside? Do they place the luggage in giant plastic bags, first? Do they know for sure that they have giant plastic bags already at home? How will they sterilize the luggage? How many multi-hour cycles in the oven and clothes dryer are they willing to perform before going to bed that night? What will they do with each batch of stuff while they're waiting for room in the dryer -- leave it in piles on the laundry room floor?
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oldtimer
Joined: May '07
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 15:06:49
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Angela
I've got bad news .....Don't rule out everyone stripping when you get home .... No easy answers here.... Locate a professional & confirm that the specimen is a bed bug or post a good macro shot for us to check for you
First, try to keep the bed bugs from hitchhiking into the bus .... Isolate anything that has been brought into the vacation home into garbage bags & heat treat all clothing in clothes dryers ... Try to treat & isolate everything that was exposed ... If you can keep them off the bus, you might be okay
If you can locate a Bed Bug Dog before you get home..... You could screen the bus & the contents of everyone's luggage..... Treat any items that are affected.... Depending on your route.... perhaps there is a K9 team in one of the cities that you will pass through on the way home.
If bed bugs make it onto the bus .... Consider having the bus treated with Vikane gas before you get home .... If you are in Florida, it is affordable..... other states vary on the cost of a fumigation.
Heat treatment is another possibility .... Otherwise you may end up with bed bugs each of your homes .... Which are likely to cost a lot more to treat than the bus.
Sorry, I wish I had an easy answer for you
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Japangela
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Joined: Jul '09
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 15:26:27
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So, what you're saying is: my life us over? Let's get practical for a moment. Imagine 18 people with enough laundry and linens to last 10 days, in a school bus, with everyone living in one house on one $70K income, 700 miles from home. Without overwhelming me with details, give me one big suggestion that's actually doable and won't put us in the poor house. Dooms day scenarios aren't going to be helpful.
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Japangela
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Joined: Jul '09
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 16:08:52
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When I posted I was out of the house. The bug I found looks like it has wings. Do BB's have wings? The shedding I found still concerns me, as does the bites on my hips, thighs, torso, and backs of my legs.
Unfortunately I do not have a good camera to take a close up picture.
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Emmm
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Joined: Mar '09
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 16:26:22
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Japangela - 58 minutes ago »
So, what you're saying is: my life us over? Let's get practical for a moment. Imagine 18 people with enough laundry and linens to last 10 days, in a school bus, with everyone living in one house on one $70K income, 700 miles from home. Without overwhelming me with details, give me one big suggestion that's actually doable and won't put us in the poor house. Dooms day scenarios aren't going to be helpful.I'm pretty sure you weren't given doomsday scenarios, but very honest and solid advice. There is no quick and easy solution to this. But, no, your life isn't over. There are a lot of ways to sort this out before getting home, but you just have to be willing to do them.
Biggest is indeed speaking to everyone and being dead serious about the risk. Scare them if you have to. And don't be in denial: maybe that bug has wings, but be sure. And get everything into a PCO or Entomologist for ID.
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Japangela
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Joined: Jul '09
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 16:54:08
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When I got home I scoured the bedding and surrounding stuff. The bug I have definitely has wings and does not look like a tiny roach.
The black stuff I thought was poop is flakey and dry and can just be brushed off the mattress. As for the shedding, not sure. Like I said, it was only in one spot and does not look like skin casings but rather a cocoon of sorts. When broken up it makes rings.
Of all the google imaging I've done I can't match it with what I am finding in my bed. However, I still can't explain the bites on my body, and why I'm the only one getting them.
Sorry for getting snippy. I'm just really stressed out over all of this!
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oldtimer
Joined: Jan '08
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 17:24:27
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OK you want a simple solution that is very cost effective.
Before you get home take a picture and get it posted so we can confirm and then take the steps below to ensure you don't take it home.
or Take the steps below to ensure you don't take it home and get the sample identified before you carry out the expensive steps.
Stop before you get home and buy:
- bin liners, enough for all the clothes you are all wearing, i.e. 1 or 2 per person
- saran wrap or pallet wrap enough for all cases
- one large steep sided smooth plastic box with a lid
Stop outside the house and wrap you case in the saran wrap and leave it what way until sample is identified and you can be certain its bed bugs.
Enter the house one at a time and step onto a bin liner on the floor just inside the door. Remove ALL clothes and place in a bin liner no more than 2/3rd full. Tie a knot in the top. Place keys wallets and all other items in the plastic box for hand inspection later (see FAQ on what to look for).
Next person can them enter once the first is out of the way, repeat till all items potentially exposed are sealed.
If you know its a bed bug then they all need to be processes as specified in the FAQ's on this site or via a commercial service or home use solution such as PackTite.
Either way the cost of doing that is about $15 much less than the cost of treatment of an infested home if it does turn out to be beg bugs. If you get it identified and its not bed bugs then you have saved the laundry costs.
If you read the FAQ's and look on sites such as http://www.bedbugbeware.com you will also learn what to look for to avoid an infestation in the first place.
Hope that helps.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 18:09:58
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Good news, Bed bugs do not have wings ....
Hopefully, the marks on your skin are due to another source.
I would give strong consideration to utilizing David's plan... if there is any doubt.
Let us know how it turns out
Hope the rest of your trip is uneventful.
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oldtimer
Joined: Jan '08
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Posted 3 years ago
Wed Jul 8 2009 18:17:07
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Yes Doug, just spotted that, it was a long post and I must confess I took a few phone calls between typing fenzies.
Wings are not common with bed bugs and the cocoon is making me thing this may be my old favourite the carpet beetle in action again.
The other piece of great an amazing news is that learning how to avoid bed bugs while away from home is also free, there is a great FAQ around here somewhere, I just wish they would have the sense to hand them out at check-in (now there is a new mission for the Gideon's).
I just wonder if anyone is brave enough to sponsor a bill enforcing mandatory bed bug awareness information at all hotel check in desks and on the back of you bill.
David
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