U.S. hotels face bed bug problem

Bedbugs are staging a comeback, mostly targeting U.S. hotels, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The return of the common variety has been blamed in part on the phasing out of some of the pesticides that had kept them in check. Hotels in particular are vulnerable because the bugs travel in luggage and clothing and because hotels have so many different people sleeping in their beds, the report said. A survey of insect-control companies in 2004 by Pest Control Technology magazine found that hotels account for the biggest proportion of all reported bedbug infestations. The good news is that bedbugs are not known to transmit diseases. Charles Kelley, a physician and an executive at a company which owns or manages 46 hotels, said hotels can avert lawsuits by being forthright with guests. But, he says, No hotel chain wants to talk about this. Thomas Jones at the University of Nevada Las Vegas's hotel school says bedbug claims are among the top frauds perpetrated against hotels. Source: Big News Network