Crew and Passenger Accommodation: Bed Bugs – a potential for vessels to harbour them and what inspectors and seafarers can look for
This article has also been published in the SHIPSAN Newsletter under the section “Environmental health and hygiene on ships”. Section Editor: Martin Walker, Port Health Officer, Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority, Felixstowe, England
Author: Martin Walker, Port Health Officer, Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority, Felixstowe, England
Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius) are small blood-sucking insects that live in cracks and crevices in and around beds and bedding. Previously associated with “slum” housing (An English word meaning poor quality housing) they are now found in the cleanest of homes, hotels and (and thankfully seemingly less commonly) ships. Once reported as close to extinction in America through the use of pesticides such as DDT, it started a comeback after use of the pesticide was banned in several countries. Nowadays, it has become prevalent in many places including the hotels of New York.
Adult Bed Bugs are red to brown in colour, oval shaped and about 4-5mm long with well-developed legs but no wings.
(Picture Source: NHS Choices )
The lack of wings does not harm the ability of the bed bug to move from place to place. They can travel rapidly across solid surfaces but also have the ability to hitch-hike on clothes, luggage and furniture. It is this latter feature that means that they can easily infest any property, hotel or ship. Overnight accomodation can be one of the commonest ways of acquiring Bed Bugs and so the potential for them to spread becomes obvious. Due to their ability to hide in small cracks and crevices and the fact that they feed nocturnally, they are difficult to detect in transit. The female lays 200-500 eggs over a two month period with a life cycle that takes 2-4 months. Eggs appear as white specks but are very difficult to spot. As eggs hatch, they form tiny straw coloured insects and as they grow into adults, they shed their skin.
The mouthparts of the Bed Bug are adapted to piercing skin and adult bedbugs can feed many times. That said, if no host is available, adults can survive up to a year without food.
Symptoms of bed bug bites
Some people can be bitten by Bed Bugs but show no symptoms at all whilst others will show mild or even severe swelling and itching. Common sites for biting include the neck, hands arms and legs. They can be mistaken for mosquito bites, but although not a definitive means of identification, Bed Bug bites are often found in a straight line of 3 (the classic phrase of “Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner” comes to mind).
How to spot a possible bed bug infestation
- Skin rashes, itchy bumps on a victim in a linear pattern
- Black spots on mattresses which could be their faeces
- Blood spots on mattresses where bed bugs have been squashed as a victim has rolled over in bed
- Mottled shells that have been shed on sheets or mattresses.
- Looking when they are most active. This is usually in the early hours of morning whilst it is dark and so may be one only for the most dedicated inspectors!
Treatment
Bed bug infestations can be extremely difficult to eliminate therefore an experienced pest controller must be used. Clothes or bed linen must be washed at 60 degrees C or put in a dryer on a hot setting for at least 30 minutes. Spraying with specifically designed insecticides or steamers/rapid freeze systems may also be used.
Are they a Public Health Risk?
Whilst extremely unpleasant and stressful, there appears to be little evidence that an infestation of Bed Bugs can spread human diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that bedbugs are not vectors of disease. Therefore, bedbugs do not appear to fit within the criteria of “Evidence of Infection or Contamination” for the issuance of Ship Sanitation Control Certificates (SSC). The issuance of a Ship Sanitation Exemption Control Certificate (SSEC) with an accompanying Evidence Report Form (to control the bed bugs) would therefore appear to be the correct procedure where a bedbug infestation is present. Do you have any evidence that would counter act this view?
References:
World Health Organization, International Health Regulations 2005, available through http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241580410_eng.pdf
World Health Organization, 2011 Handbook for Inspection of Ships and Issuance of Ship Sanitation Certificates available through
http://www.who.int/ihr/publications/handbook_ships_inspection/en/
http://pestcemetery.com/bed-bugs-extinct/
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bed-bugs/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Pest Control Procedures in the housing sector January 2010
http://www.who.int/docstore/water_sanitation_health/vectcontrol/ch23.htm