Can Bed Bugs Travel Between Apartments? How They Spread From Neighbours and How to Keep Them Out

Can Bed Bugs Travel Between Apartments?

Bed bugs can travel between apartments, and studies in real apartment buildings show they do it often. They cannot fly or jump (Health Canada), but they are good walkers, and a multi-unit building gives them shared walls, shared hallways and shared rooms to move through. A Virginia Tech action plan for apartments notes that bed bugs can move between units, and an infestation next door may be the source of the one in the unit being treated.

What Apartment Studies Show

Apartment studies show that bed bugs rarely stay in one unit. In a high-rise studied by Rutgers University researchers (Wang and colleagues, 2010), nearly half of the apartments had bed bugs within a few years of the first confirmed case, and many of the apartments next to an infested unit were infested too. A later study (Cooper and colleagues, 2015) released marked bed bugs in several apartments and found them in neighbouring units of most of them. Across the neighbouring apartments monitored, most had bed bug activity.

How Far Can Bed Bugs Travel?

Bed bugs can travel farther than most people expect. In the 2015 study, large nymphs and adult females travelled far enough to reach apartments across the hallway. Many of the recaptured bugs were caught a few metres or more from the bed where they had been released. In other words, a bed bug that leaves your neighbour's bedroom can reasonably reach yours.

Why Do Bed Bugs Leave a Neighbour's Unit?

Bed bugs leave a neighbour's unit mostly when the population grows. The 2010 study found that dispersal can rise with the size of the infestation, and that adult bed bugs were more likely to disperse than nymphs. Disturbance also pushes them out: Public Health Seattle and King County warns that bug bombs and general use pesticides can force bed bugs into adjacent apartments. An empty unit is not required, either. In the 2015 study, bed bugs reportedly left occupied and vacant apartments alike.

How Long Can Bed Bugs Survive Without Feeding?

Bed bugs can survive from several weeks to up to a year and a half without feeding, according to Health Canada, and the 2015 study notes that starved bed bugs can survive for months in real buildings. That means a vacant apartment next door is not automatically safe, and bugs that wander into a wall void can wait a long time for a new host.

How Do Bed Bugs Spread Between Apartments?

Bed bugs spread between apartments by walking through shared openings and by riding on people and belongings. Most routes are ordinary features of any building. For how they move inside one home, see our guide on how bed bugs spread.

Entry Doors

Entry doors are one of the busiest routes. The 2010 study found bed bugs leaving through apartment entry doors into the hallway, and the researchers believe many more went undetected. In the 2015 study, a sticky barrier across one infested apartment's door caught many unmarked and some marked bed bugs. From the hallway, they can reach the units on either side and across the hall.

Electrical Outlets

Electrical outlets on shared walls give bed bugs a door into the wall void. Health Canada lists electrical outlets among the tight spaces where bed bugs hide, and in the 2010 apartment study, researchers sometimes found them in outlets, ceiling corners and behind baseboards. From there, they can reach the unit on the same floor or the units above and below.

Utility Openings

Utility openings are the gaps where pipes, wires and other services pass through walls and floors. Health Canada tells residents to check entry points on walls shared with neighbours, including the areas where pipes, wires and other utility services enter. Look under the kitchen sink and behind the bathroom vanity, where pipes usually come through the wall.

Cracks in Shared Walls

Cracks in shared walls, floors and ceilings let bed bugs move between units without ever entering the hallway. The University of Kentucky notes that bed bugs can crawl from room to room, or floor to floor, through cracks and openings in walls. A BC tenant group, TRAC, lists cracks in the wall from an adjacent unit among the ways bed bugs can reach a rental unit. For more on this route, read about bed bugs in walls.

Shared Laundry Rooms

Shared laundry rooms are another meeting point. TRAC names shared laundry facilities as a possible route in multi-unit buildings. Health Canada's tips for laundromats apply here too: use a light-coloured plastic basket, and do not set it on the floor or next to seating or garbage cans.

Discarded Furniture

Discarded furniture spreads bed bugs through the whole building. In the 2010 study, infested furniture carried out of the building without being wrapped in plastic was likely one of the ways bed bugs spread from unit to unit. Health Canada's advice is simple: never take a mattress or sofa from a curb, and be very cautious with second-hand items. Our guide to preventing bed bugs in your apartment covers second-hand purchases and move-ins in detail.

Visitors

Visitors carry bed bugs from unit to unit on clothing and bags. The 2010 study suggests spread through resident visits to infested apartments, guests with bed bugs on their belongings, and even a wheelchair with bed bugs used in common areas.

Are Your Bed Bugs Coming From Your Neighbours?

Bed bugs from neighbours can be hard to prove, because, as TRAC points out, it can be very difficult to know how bed bugs entered a rental unit in a multi-unit building. You can still look for clues. Whatever the source, the next steps are the same: report it and get your unit inspected.

Signs of Bed Bugs

Signs of bed bugs include dark spots on bedding and furniture and shed skins, according to the US EPA, and HealthLink BC also lists itchy bites and live or dead bugs. Adults are about the size of an apple seed, and bites can take up to 14 days to appear, according to Health Canada. If you are not sure what you are seeing, our guide on the signs of a bed bug infestation shows where to look and what each sign means.

Clues That Point to Next Door

Clues that point to next door include a neighbour or your landlord telling you about bed bugs in the building, bugs or dark spots near the shared wall, an outlet or the entry door, and a first sighting even though you have not travelled, had guests or brought home used furniture. Keep in mind that your neighbour may not know: in the 2010 study, many of the interviewed residents with bed bugs were unaware of them.

Clues That Point to Your Own Belongings

Clues that point to your own belongings include a recent trip, a hotel stay, a second-hand couch or mattress, or a visit from someone who has bed bugs. Bed bugs are easily moved from room to room on infested objects, according to Health Canada. Our guide on what causes bed bugs covers every common source.

What Should You Do If Your Neighbour Has Bed Bugs?

If your neighbour has bed bugs, act early: tell your landlord, ask for your unit to be inspected, and avoid anything that drives the bugs toward you. Treating one unit at a time is a known reason apartment infestations keep coming back, according to Virginia Tech.

Talk to Your Neighbour

Talking to your neighbour helps everyone, as long as it stays calm and blame-free. The University of Kentucky notes there is often no relationship between bed bugs and cleanliness, and the bugs may have reached your neighbour from another unit. Ask whether they have told the landlord and whether treatment is planned, and offer to report it together. Virginia Tech notes that when tenants are charged for treatment, some may stop reporting, so a friendly approach keeps the problem in the open.

Tell Your Landlord in Writing

Telling your landlord in writing is the most important step. Quebec tells tenants to inform the owner of the building immediately, the City of Montreal says to notify your landlord right away and call 311 if they do not act, and Manitoba says tenants should tell their landlord as soon as they think they may have a problem. TRAC advises BC tenants to inform the landlord in writing immediately, so there is a dated record. Mention that the problem may be coming from a neighbouring unit.

Ask for Neighbouring Units to Be Inspected

Asking for neighbouring units to be inspected is what stops bed bugs from bouncing back and forth. A Virginia Tech action plan recommends inspecting the units on either side and the units above and below at regular intervals over the next few weeks, and the 2015 study suggests adding the units across the hallway. In Manitoba, if the exterminator believes other apartments may need treatment, the landlord may also need to inspect those units, and Montreal generally requires landlords to let the exterminator visit the entire building. If you want an independent opinion for a condo you own, you can get a quote from a recommended local exterminator through Pest Agent's referral form.

Avoid Bug Bombs

Avoiding bug bombs protects you and your neighbours. Public Health Seattle and King County warns that total release foggers can force bed bugs into adjacent apartments, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension says foggers are mostly ineffective against them, and the University of Kentucky says the mist does not reach the cracks and wall voids where bed bugs hide. If you use any insecticide, Health Canada says to use only products registered in Canada and only as directed on the label. Our review of bed bug sprays explains what to look for, but in an apartment, treatment is best left to a licensed pest control professional hired through your landlord.

Who Pays for Treatment

Who pays for treatment depends on your province and on whether you rent or own. In Manitoba, landlords are generally responsible for the costs of treatment, and in BC, TRAC says landlords are generally responsible for arranging and paying for it. See our guides on who pays for bed bug extermination and bed bugs in an apartment for the rules in each province.

How Do You Keep Bed Bugs From Neighbours Out of Your Apartment?

Keeping bed bugs from neighbours out of your apartment means closing the paths they walk through and catching any that arrive early. None of these steps replaces a professional treatment if bed bugs are already in your unit, but together they make your apartment much harder to reach.

Seal Cracks

Sealing cracks blocks the shortest routes from next door. Health Canada advises sealing cracks and crevices between baseboards and in walls, and HealthLink BC adds ceilings, windows, door frames and furniture. Pay special attention to the shared walls, the gaps around pipes under sinks, and the door frame of your entry door. Ask your landlord before sealing anything that is part of the building.

Tighten Electrical Faceplates

Tightening electrical faceplates is a quick fix that both Health Canada and HealthLink BC recommend. A loose outlet or switch cover on a shared wall leaves a gap straight into the wall void. Turn off the power at the breaker before you touch any electrical plate, or ask your landlord to do it.

Bed Leg Interceptors

Bed leg interceptors are small cups under the legs of the bed and furniture that catch bed bugs as they climb. Health Canada describes them as a way to help detect bed bugs, and the Virginia Tech plan uses them to find small infestations in neighbouring units that a visual check misses. The 2010 study found that checking interceptors usually takes a few minutes, compared with hours for a visual inspection. The University of Kentucky also advises pulling the bed a few inches away from the wall and keeping blankets off the floor, so the legs are the only way up.

Mattress Encasements

Mattress encasements are zippered covers for the mattress and box spring that leave bed bugs no seams to hide in. Health Canada says it is good practice to keep the mattress enclosed this way for a full year. A light-coloured, certified encasement also makes any bug or spot easy to see.

Less Clutter

Less clutter means fewer places for a newly arrived bed bug to hide. Health Canada lists getting rid of clutter as a prevention step, and a tidy bedroom makes regular checks faster, especially along the shared wall.

Hot Dryer

A hot dryer kills bed bugs that hitch a ride on your laundry. Health Canada advises putting items in a hot dryer for 30 minutes or more. This is worth doing after using a shared laundry room in a building with known bed bugs, and for bedding if your neighbour has just started treatment.

Regular Checks

Regular checks catch an arrival before it becomes an infestation. Health Canada says regular inspection is important to prevent infestations. Check the mattress seams, the headboard, the interceptors and the baseboards along shared walls every week or two while your neighbour's unit is being treated. For more guides on identifying, preventing and treating bed bugs, visit the bed bug hub.