Can taxis be infested by bed bugs?

The National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky just released their latest report on Bed Bugs.  It reports that they are showing up in all sorts of places that you might not expect to find them.

Precautions When Traveling

You can take precautions when you stay in your hotel when you travel.  There are still ways of bringing them home with you from a variety of surprising places.

It doesn’t matter whether you are at home or traveling.  You can pick up the nasty critters in a taxi or going to the movies.  You can even pick them up at the conference room where you are having meetings.

Your kids can bring them home from college dorms or from their summer camp.  Assisted living facilities like nursing homes are and hospital waiting rooms are reporting more sightings.  There have even been reports of the bugs on airplanes.

Here is a breakdown of what pest management companies are reporting:

• 75 percent have been called to hotels to treat bed bugs
• 47 percent have found bed bugs in college dorms
• 46 percent have been called to nursing homes
• 41 percent have treated schools and daycare centers
• 36 percent have been called to office buildings
• 33 percent have found bed bugs in hospitals
• 21 percent have treated taxis, trains, or buses
• 10 percent have been called to movie theaters

Nearly 100 percent of pest management companies reported treating bed bugs.  These pests are found across the country.  Nearly 72% say the calls that they receive asking for BedBug treatment are increasing.

Recently the  Centers for Disease Control reports that the bugs can travel up to 100 feet in a night from their original hiding place.

One unpleasant fact brought up in this report is about the largest jumps in numbers of treatment requests.  They were in hospitals, schools and daycare centers, taxis, and public transportation.