Forget airport queues and travel strikes – there's another holiday nightmare hitching a ride, and it could be waiting for you on your next flight.
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it → forget → flight
Bed bugs are turning up on trains and planes, with one expert warning: 'We're at peak bed bug.'
Martim Gois, co-founder and CEO of bed bug safety certification company Valpas, exclusively told the Daily Mail: 'There are more of them circulating in travel than ever before.'
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Gois → turn → travel
Last month, the bloodsucking pests forced multiple Southeastern trains out of service after being discovered on staff bags and inside train drivers' cabs.
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pests → bloodsucke → cabs
The situation was so alarming that one driver allegedly refused to move a train across the depot without a white full-body protection suit, according to The Telegraph.
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driver → refuse → Telegraph
Now, the problem appears to have taken to the skies, after passengers on a Qantas flight from Perth to Rome reported being bitten by bugs mid-flight earlier this month.
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passengers → appear → bugs
'We're at peak bed bug,' according to Martim Gois, co-founder and CEO of Valpas
Earlier this month, passengers on a Qantas flight reported being bitten by bugs mid-flight
The airline was then forced to cancel the return flight the following day and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was taken out of service for a deep clean and fumigation.
According to Qantas, affected passengers were provided with accommodation and rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours of their original departure.
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passengers → accord → departure
But why are we suddenly seeing bed bugs crop up on trains and planes?
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bugs → see → trains
'Bed bugs move with travellers.
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bugs → move → travellers
The more arrivals and departures there are, the more bed bugs travel with them,' Mr Gois explained.
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Gois → be → them
'What people get wrong is treating each case as a local hygiene problem.
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get → get → problem
It has nothing to do with how clean a plane, train or hotel is.
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plane → have → nothing
It's a travel problem, and it grows with travel.
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it → grow → travel
'
Most people assume bed bugs typically live in hotel rooms where many travellers can check in and out in a short amount of time.
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travellers → assume → time
The bed bug expert reveals how the insects can make their way onto aircraft via luggage.
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insects → reveal → luggage
'On planes and trains they're passing through, looking for a bed to settle in,' he said.
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he → pass → bed
'On a long-haul flight, where passengers sit still for hours in the dark, a hungry one can come out to feed.
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one → sit → dark
But they won't stay on a plane the way they settle in a bed.
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they → stay → bed
Meanwhile, in September the insects forced multiple Southeastern trains out of service
Mr Gois revealed European capitals popular with British travellers are seeing a 20 to 25 per cent increase in bed bug incidents in hotels every year.
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capitals → force → hotels
'The reason is where they live: bed bugs don't live on planes, they are around beds,' he added.
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he → live → beds
'Hotel and holiday-rental beds change guests every night, so that's where bed bugs settle and where they set off from to homes, trains and planes.'
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they → change → homes
After the Qantas incident, a spokesman for the airline said: 'We sincerely apologise to customers for the cancellation of Saturday's Rome to Perth service, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft after an issue was identified on a small number of economy seats.
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issue → say → seats
Meanwhile Oly Turner, Head of Drivers for Southeastern, said at the time: 'We have a great relationship with our drivers, who have helped hugely in cooperating with us over these isolated incidents.
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who → say → incidents
'When we receive reports such as these we check trains thoroughly before they are put back into service when given the all-clear.
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they → receive → clear
Cases have been contained to the drivers' cabs in only two of our trains and no bed bugs have been identified in areas for passengers.
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bugs → contain → passengers
We continually carry out robust cleaning across our trains and stations, ensuring our customers and employees can travel safely and with confidence.'
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customers → carry → confidence
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