Bed bugs are typically acquired by coming into contact with infested items or environments. Here are the main ways you can get bed bugs:
- Hitchhiking on personal belongings: Bed bugs can attach themselves to luggage, purses, backpacks, clothing, or other personal items when you visit infested places such as hotels, motels, hospitals, or public transportation. They then travel with you to your home or other locations
- Secondhand furniture and belongings: Used furniture, especially mattresses, box springs, couches, and chairs, can harbor bed bugs. Bringing these items into your home without thorough inspection can introduce bed bugs
- Travel and high-density living: Bed bugs are common in places with frequent human turnover and close quarters, such as apartment complexes, dormitories, shelters, and hotels. They can move between rooms via walls, ducts, or shared spaces
- Infested neighboring dwellings: In multi-unit buildings, bed bugs can spread from one unit to another through cracks, electrical outlets, or shared walls
Bed bugs do not fly or jump; they crawl and rely heavily on human movement to spread quickly. They are attracted to humans by carbon dioxide, warmth, and odors, feeding mostly at night on exposed skin. Infestations are not caused by poor hygiene but by proximity to infested items or locations
. To prevent bringing bed bugs home after travel, inspect hotel rooms carefully, keep luggage off beds and upholstered furniture, and wash clothing in hot water upon return
. In summary, bed bugs are commonly acquired by unknowingly transporting them on personal belongings or infested furniture from places where they are present
