Passengers traveling from Italy to Australia were unable to arrive in Perth on time over the weekend after their flights were canceled due to a reported bed bug outbreak.
Australia’s national airline Qantas was forced to cancel a flight scheduled for Saturday after a passenger on an earlier flight complained of being bitten on board, CNN affiliate 9 News reported.
Australian news outlets reported that the complaint had been made by a traveler in the economy section of QF5 flight from Perth to Rome on October 9th.
One passenger, Hayley Bagnall, told 9News: “(They) were crawling all over our belongings, clothes, Qantas blankets and even crawling along the windows.”
Qantas told CNN in a statement on Tuesday that the incident was still under investigation, adding: “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the cancellation of Saturday’s Rome-Perth flight, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep cleaning of the aircraft due to an issue identified in a small number of economy seats.”
The airline says its cabins are regularly cleaned to a high standard.
The airline said customers who were scheduled to fly on Saturday were offered accommodation and rebooked on alternative flights.
Bed bugs are small, flat insects. They are reddish-brown in color and tend to bite people while they sleep and suck their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They are found in a variety of environments around the world.
The bites are similar to mosquito bites and may be swollen and itchy, which is exacerbated if you are allergic to bed bugs.
Contrary to what the name suggests, they are not only found in bed. The CDC website states, “Bed bugs are spread by invading the seams and folds of luggage, overnight bags, folded clothing, bedding, furniture, and anywhere else bed bugs can hide. Most people are unaware that they are carrying bed bugs with them during their travels and infecting the community.”
If stung, no treatment is usually required other than topical lotion. However, infested areas should be treated with pest control, the CDC says.
