Bed bugs bite £43m hole in Australia's tourism income

Published on Saturday 4 February 2006 01:02

AUSTRALIA is suffering a bed-bug epidemic with the tourism industry losing an estimated £43 million a year because of the blood-sucking insects.

Some pest controllers have reported more than a 1,000 per cent rise in bed-bug outbreaks, said the Institute for Clinical Pathology & Medical Research at Sydney's Westmead Hospital.

The Australian outbreaks are part of a global epidemic, with the number of bed bugs worldwide doubling each year, says entomologist Stephen Doggett.

"Britain, Europe and a lot of America have reported a resurgence in bed bugs," he added.

Hotel and pest control operators in the United States reported a 20 per cent rise in bed bugs in 2004 and bed-bug infestations there have caused lawsuits, with a number of companies sued by guests who have been bitten.

Mr Doggett said the worldwide rise in the insects was a result of changing pest control measures and an increase in travellers visiting exotic locations.