London’s hotels are on high alert for an influx of bed bugs which could threaten the capital’s hospitality sector in the run-up to the Olympics, a leading pest control company said today. 

MITIE saw a sharp rise in requests for anti-bed bug consultations from hotels, universities and hospitals in the last quarter of 2010, with some of London’s most prestigious hotels asking for advice from its pest control business. 

They are on guard because of concerns London could fall foul of a bed bug infestation, similar to an outbreak in New York this year which had major impact on its hospitality industry. 

Hotels, schools, cinemas, theatres, department stores in the Big Apple, including Bloomingdales and the Empire State Building have been hit and tourists have started to stay away from the city. 

As news of the problems in New York crossed the Atlantic MITIE has been running a bed bug awareness campaign and has seen a ten-fold increase in calls for advice on how to prevent a similar occurrence in London. 

Habib Abdullah, director of MITIE’s pest control team, said: “London and New York have very strong ties and with so many people travelling back and forth between the two, there’s a good chance of a bedbug outbreak here.

“The good news is that people are very alert to the danger and - especially with the Olympics only just around the corner – are ensuring effective treatments and procedures are used. 

“We’ve already seen a tenfold jump in anti-bed bug consultations this year due to our new awareness campaign and interest in our new guaranteed treatment.” 

Habib added: “In Sydney there was an 8,000% increase in reported bed bug infestations in the years after the Olympic Games because of the huge number of tourists visiting the city. 

“And with London getting around 10 million visitors a year from around the world, the likelihood of bed bugs being brought in is very real. If not tackled it could have hugely negative repercussions for the tourist industry and our international reputation.” 

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) live in crevices in beds and seats and survive by biting their victims and sucking their blood. The bites appear as tiny red lumps and are extremely itchy and painful.

The bugs tend to get transported in clothes or suitcases, mattresses or second-hand furniture, and are extremely hard to eradicate once present. 

MITIE’s pest control business has pioneered a fast and effective new treatment called SID which involves use of Steam, small quantities of a localised Insecticide and Diatomaceous Earth, a non toxic powder. This treatment allows hotel rooms to be re-inhabited the same day and minimises any loss of revenue. 

Oliver Madge, chairman of the Bedbug Foundation, an independent industry body, said: “We are worried about the potential impact on London because, like New York, it is a high density multi-dwelling city with lots of people travelling through it on business and leisure. When you combine these factors the likelihood of a bed bug infestation is much greater. 

“There is a misconception that bedbugs only dwell in dirty premises or lower income areas and unfortunately this contributes to a complacent attitude about the threat they pose. The reality is that bed bugs are not normal pests like cockroaches – they are not attracted to food, they can live for months without feeding on humans and they are small and resilient enough to hide away for long periods without being noticed. 

“Their biology is completely different to normal pests, and until we understand this we won’t be able to tackle the threat they pose effectively.”

Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius) Fact Sheet 

•  Bed bugs are 4-5mm long which feed by biting humans and sucking their blood
• Their bites rarely wake a sleeping person but produce large, itchy welts on the skin
• They are attracted to their victims by the C02 they exhale – not their body temperature
• The typical life span of a bed bug is 10 months and they can survive for 8 months without feeding
• Female bedbugs can lay up to five eggs in a day and 500 during a lifetime
• Bed bugs are transported on clothing, luggage, furniture, or bedding
• Modern transport e.g.: planes, trains and buses enable bed bugs to spread very quickly 

-ENDS-

Notes for editors

What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing company. What does that mean in practice? We manage facilities, properties and assets for our clients across the UK and beyond.

We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise, others may only need one aspect of what we do:

Strategy and consultancy
+ Facilities and project management
+ Service delivery

Our strategic input can add value at the highest level by helping clients to manage their assets, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and reduce their carbon emissions. We work with a vast number of clients in every industry across both the public and private sectors and deliver the broadest range of services that can be found in one place: from integrated facilities management to engineering maintenance to lifecycle energy management and much more.

There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions – a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with more than 56,000 people, revenues in excess of £1.7bn, and a reputation for being the best.

Visit us at www.mitie.com or www.mitie.com/pest-control