How to prevent the top 5 pests in a hotel

An encounter with a pest in a hotel can ruin a guest’s stay and result in negative comments on social media spreading a bad reputation for the hotel, seriously affecting business. An infestation of pests can also result in authorities taking legal action to ensure public safety, especially if the kitchens, restaurants and bars are affected.

Pests can enter any class of hotel — some are brought in by the guests themselves — so it is essential for every hotel to have effective procedures for preventing, monitoring and controlling pests.

Five of the most common pests that guests encounter in hotels are:

·        bed bugs

·        cockroaches

·        fleas

·        flies

·        rodents

Bed bugs

In the last two decades bed bugs have become more common with the increase in international travel. Bed bugs are the most difficult pest to prevent from entering a hotel because they are mainly brought onto the premises by guests themselves — even the best hotels can suffer from an infestation.

Bed bugs can survive for several months without feeding so can easily be taken from hotel to hotel in luggage over several trips.

No guest wants to return from a hotel with a set of irritating bites that can last for days. A lingering reminder of a bad experience is far more likely to lead to a complaint on social media.

The key to preventing bed bugs attacking the guests is to identify the problem as early as possible and take steps to eliminate them.

Bed bug feeding

Bed bugs are attracted to a feeding host by warmth, carbon dioxide and various body chemicals. They need to stay near potential hosts to be successful at getting a blood meal. If they are starved, however, they will crawl some distance and spread from room to room, both horizontally and vertically to other floors.

Bed bugs are mainly nocturnal feeders, crawling out of their shelters in the dark and using their sensors to find a warm, breathing body. They crawl on the bedding and feed where bare skin touches the bedding, which is usually face, neck, hands and arms, leaving a distinctive line of bites on the skin. Bed bugs need only 5-10 minutes of undisturbed feeding to be full.

With an adequate supply of blood, a female bed bug can lay 200-500 eggs per month. The eggs hatch and the young mature into adults over about 5 weeks, which can lead to a rapid increase in population if not checked.

Bed bug prevention

Prevention of bed bugs requires an integrated approach to detect and eliminate them economically, with minimal danger to guests and staff, property, and the environment.

An effective bed bug prevention strategy requires a system of:

·        inspection, identification and quantification

·        implementing control measures

·        monitoring the effectiveness of controls

The best strategy is to implement suitable measures to prevent an infestation taking hold:

·        good maintenance practices to remove access to harbourage in the building structure and fittings

·        use of bed bug traps to detect their presence

·        train staff how to detect signs of bed bugs

·        include checking for bed bugs in your room cleaning procedures

·        set up an effective policy for dealing with a bed bug infestation

·        have a procedure in place for handling bed bug complaints from guests

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are a pest where there are readily available food sources. In hotels, cockroaches can infest kitchens, restaurants, bars, public washrooms in the lobby or bathrooms in the guest rooms. They are primarily nocturnal, preferring to stay in a shelter during daytime and searching for food at night. They take shelter in small dark places in furniture, equipment, food packaging, cracks and crevices in the building structure, and in hidden places such as along pipework and cables and inside drain pipes and sewers.

There are several species of cockroach with slightly differing habitat preferences, but generally they prefer warm and humid places.

Apart from a negative reaction customers and staff may have on encountering this insect, cockroaches are a health hazard due to their habits of:

• feeding on foul contaminated matter such as mould, rotting food, faecal matter in sewers, from rodents and birds, and animal carcasses
• contaminating their environment by defecating where they run, frequently expelling saliva on surfaces to ‘taste’ their environment, and discarding cast skins and egg cases
• carrying pathogenic microorganisms, such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Listeria, E. coli and parasitic worms
• producing allergens from their droppings and shed skins

Three most common cockroach species:

• German Cockroach (Blatella germanica): the adult is about 12-15mm long and light brown. It prefers wet, humid conditions and is especially associated with infestations of kitchens and food storage areas, but also infests bathrooms, vehicles, offices and administrative areas. It is thought to have originated in East and Southeast Asia and is now the most common cockroach pest in buildings worldwide, maintained by heating systems in cooler climates — it is rarely found outdoors. Its temperature preference is 20–27°C.
• American cockroach (Periplaneta americana): the largest cockroach, with adults 35-40mm long and reddish brown. It requires warm, humid environments to survive. They are found in drains, sewers, basements, storage rooms and waste storage areas. Temperature preference is 24–31°C.
• Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis): the adult is 20-25mm long, intermediate between the other two and has a dark brown or black body. It prefers cooler, dark and damp places to shelter, such as basements and drains, and can be found in storage rooms and waste storage areas. Temperature preference is 20–29°C.

Hazards from cockroaches

• Diseases and allergens: cockroaches can carry a large number of disease-causing bacteria, including Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Listeria, E. coli, and also fungi, viruses and parasitic worms;
• they feed on decaying matter, mould, faecal matter in sewers, from rodents and birds, and animal carcasses, which can then be transmitted into the food production and serving environment on their bodies or from excreta;
• they defecate along their pathways and frequently expel saliva on surfaces to ‘taste’ their environment;
• droppings and bodily secretions stain and leave a foul odour that can permeate infestation areas, food and packaging;
• cast skins and egg cases contaminate products and food packaging;
• droppings and shed skins contain allergens, and heavy cockroach populations can trigger asthma attacks in both guests and staff.
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Cockroach prevention

Cockroaches can feed on almost anything organic, including cardboard, and on tiny amounts of foods and liquids, therefore good sanitation is the key to prevention. This includes:

• good cleaning practices in food storage and preparation areas to eliminate any residues on surfaces, including floors
• store food in cockroach-proof containers
• maintain drainage system in good condition
• implement waste handling processes to remove waste to suitable containers in a well maintained waste storage area
• good building design and maintenance to deny access and shelter
• implement a good inspection regime to quickly identify the presence of cockroaches eg in deliveries

Fleas

Fleas are a major annoyance to hotel guests because of their irritating bites. Also, unlike bed bugs, they are a potential health risk as they can give their hosts a number of diseases from bacteria, viruses and parasites that they carry.

Fleas tend to prefer particular animal hosts to feed and breed on, but there are several types that can bite humans apart from the human flea, including cat, dog, bird and rat fleas.

Hotel guests are a major source of fleas, as are pet dogs and cats. Pest animals can also bring fleas into hotels, including birds and rats nesting on or in the building. When the host animal leaves the nest, which could be as a result of pest control measures, fleas will seek new hosts elsewhere in the building.

Like bed bugs, fleas require a blood meal to lay eggs, but unlike bed bugs, fleas lay their eggs on an animal’s hair or feathers, human clothing, or in the sleeping area of the host animal. The eggs hatch into larvae in 2-14 days. These feed on any organic matter, especially adult flea faeces in the nesting area of the host animal, vegetable matter and dead insects.

The larva of the human flea can take 19 days to develop into a pupa. The flea can survive over winter in the larva or pupa stage, or survive several months in the cocoon as an adult. However, once emerged from the cocoon the adults need a blood meal within a week to survive.

Flea prevention

it is difficult to prevent fleas from entering a hotel, but once present they can be controlled by having a suitable management policy, including:

• identify the pest species and determine the source of infection
• carefully remove infested bedding and wash on a hot cycle or dispose of
• vacuum around the infested areas
• treat the infested areas with approved flea killer
• treat pets with a suitable flea product

Flies

Flies that are attracted to food products, including food waste, are pests in hotels. House flies, fruit flies, drain flies and blow flies are attracted to the food odours from kitchens and food preparation areas. The main pest species are the housefly and the fruit fly.

House fly

House flies are not just a nuisance to guests, they are also a health hazard from their habit of feeding and breeding on animal faeces, garbage and rotting food.

House flies are attracted to almost any food, which they will contaminate on landing on it, with matter picked up on their body, from regurgitating digestive juices and from defecating on the food.

Microorganisms that flies carry include: E. coli, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, fungi and parasitic worms.

House flies can be a problem in restaurants, bars, kitchens, lobby areas and food delivery areas. Also, where food waste is stored outside flies can become a nuisance and enter rooms nearby via open windows and doors.

Fruit fly

Fruit flies are attracted to fermenting and sugary liquids. Sources of these include food waste, overripe and damaged fruit and some types of vegetable, old drinks bottles, liquid spills, kitchen drains.

Fruit flies can contaminate food because they will pick up microorganisms from wherever they feed, including faeces, which contains both spoilage microorganisms and diseases.

Fruit flies can be a pest in bars and restaurants, where many sweet and fermented drinks are served, kitchens and near food waste storage areas. The eggs are laid in semi-liquid material in rotting fruit and vegetables. The life cycle from egg to adult is completed in 14 days at 20℃ or just 8 days at 30℃.

Fly prevention

The most important way to control flies is by using standard food hygiene practices to deny them access to food sources, including food waste. These include:

• adequate cleaning in food preparation, storage and serving areas
• checking the state of food supplies as they are delivered and in storage
• hygienic management of food waste, including use of fly-proof containers
• keep drains clean and free of organic matter
• maintain barriers to flies, by using screens on windows and vents and keeping doors closed
• use UV light traps to eliminate flies in food handling and storage areas —
• apply appropriate pesticides using trained personnel — only use as a last resort

Risk from flies

In warm conditions and with food supplies flies can multiply rapidly. They feed on faecal matter, garbage, rotting materials as well as stored and processed foods that will be present around commercial kitchens. They will regularly move between the contaminated food sources and clean areas, carrying contaminated filth on their bodies as well as microorganisms internally.

Flies can carry many microorganisms that cause disease in humans, including Salmonella, cholera, Campylobacter spp, E. coli, Cryptosporidium, parasitic worms and fungi.

Flies can pick up contaminated materials on their bodies, feet and mouth parts. Some regurgitate digestive juices and defecate while feeding and resting, contaminating foods and surfaces with microorganisms that can cause disease or decay. Fruit flies are not generally considered to be as great a health risk as other flies. However, they can also carry spoilage microorganisms and 

Rodents

Rats and mice are attracted to hotels by the food supplies in kitchens, restaurants and waste storage areas. Populations can quickly build up if there are poor food and waste handling practices.

It is not just guests’ reactions to rodents that can damage a hotel business;  they run along with a range of diseases, including Salmonella, E. coli, Leptospirosis. They cause stock loss and can also damage packaging, fixtures, equipment and even wiring.

Staff should be trained how to spot the  Distinctive signs of rats and mice include:

• droppings
• distinctive noises: gnawing, scurrying, squeeks
• smudge marks along walls, piping and electrical cables
• gnaw marks around holes in the building and on food and packaging

Rodent prevention

The most important means of preventing rodents, as with the other pests that are attracted to food, is eliminating their access to food, water and shelter inside and outside the hotel. Standard food hygiene practices in the food delivery, storage, preparation, serving and disposal areas area essential to deny rats and mice access to food.

Doorways, vents, windows and entry points for pipes and cables, should be designed to have no gaps and maintained to prevent holes forming around them. Rats and mice, especially the young, can squeeze through tiny gaps — a pencil-sized gap under a door is enough for a small mouse to get in.

Traps and poisons can be used to control rodents, but these are governed by various pieces of legislation, including food law and also environmental, wildlife, health and safety laws. Hotel operators should use professional pest controllers to ensure legal compliance and effective control, helping to protect brand reputation.

• continuous automated monitoring and protection against pests
• effective and immediate treatment to control and minimise negative business impacts
• fast response from skilled technicians who will identify sources of infestations and any further action needed
• easy-to-access, real-time reporting gives immediate status of incidents online
• improved audit compliance provides additional assurance to third-party auditors

PestConnect

Pest Connect is a system of devices that detect, capture or humanely kill a variety of pests using traps, bait stations and monitoring units. These devices have been developed using unique capabilities in research into pest behaviour and product development.

• The devices have infrared sensors that can detect a pest and activate a trap or allow access to bait.

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