Bed bugs are a problem all over the world, but officials in the city of St. Louis are attempting to eradicate the pests at several different business locations that have been declared bed bug hotspots. Not surprisingly, hotels and motels account for everyone of these bed bug-infested businesses. The bed bug presence in the city has become quite well known among residents. In fact, one local news station was even available to interview one woman who found bed bugs within her motel room. After the woman, Tammy Randall, described how she felt bed bugs crawling on her within her motel room, Fox 2 requested inspection records to gain a clearer understanding of the situation.
Randall was with her family at an O’Fallon, Missouri motel when she suddenly heard her daughter screaming about bed bugs. Despite the girl’s young age, she was already familiar with bed bugs and how traumatizing they can be to their victims. Initially, Randall did not believe her daughter, but upon inspecting a bed, she found armies of bed bugs behind her daughter’s pillow. Randall accidentally squished one, and proceeded to take pictures of the bed bugs as evidence. Shortly afterwards, Randall began to feel bed bugs crawling on her body, but she could not see them very well.
An understandably angry Randall called the state health department immediately after feeling the bed bugs on her skin. The health department is inspecting the hotel now, but if the current trend is any indication, this hotel may be forced to close some its rooms in an effort to combat bed bug pests. When health inspectors received Randall’s call, they had already forced seven motels to close many of their rooms after bed bug infestations were found on the premises. According to one official, bed bugs are also showing up at more high end hotels. This is not surprising to officials since bed bugs do not discriminate when it comes to where to establish themselves. Bed bugs are just as likely to show up at high-end hotels as they are at danky motels.
Do you think that bed bugs could spread to the point where nobody feels safe while staying in a motel or hotel?
