How Do Bed Bugs Spread? Luggage, Furniture and Next Door
Bed bugs spread by hitchhiking in luggage, clothing, bags and used furniture, and by crawling between neighbouring apartments through hallways and gaps in shared walls, floors and ceilings. They cannot fly or jump, and they do not live on people the way lice do, so they rarely pass directly from person to person. In one 223-unit apartment building studied by entomologists, bed bugs reached 45 per cent of apartments within 41 months of the first confirmed introduction.
Understanding the two routes, passive transport in belongings and active walking between units, explains nearly everything about bed bug prevention. The first is why travellers and people buying used furniture are at risk. The second is why one apartment is so hard to clear on its own.
Every way bed bugs spread, and how to block it
| Route | Evidence | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| Luggage and travel bags | CDC: they spread in the seams and folds of luggage, overnight bags and folded clothes; the Sheffield study found they gather on worn clothing | Inspect the bed before unpacking; keep cases on a rack, off the floor and bed; seal worn clothes in bags |
| Used beds and furniture | Purdue: buying infested secondhand beds and furniture has been shown to accelerate local outbreaks | Do not bring home discarded mattresses or sofas; inspect seams and joints of anything used |
| Moving house | Purdue: they spread when people move infested possessions into a new home | If you suspect bed bugs, dry fabrics on high heat before packing; check furniture before it goes on the truck |
| Walking between apartments | Wang and others, 2010: 53 per cent of apartments next to infested units were also infested; bugs trapped at entry doors | Report early; ask for the units on every side to be inspected too |
| Clothing, shoes and mobility aids | Kentucky: carried in on clothing, shoes and wheelchairs; a 2010 building study traced spread to a wheelchair used in common areas | Dry clothing on high heat after time in an infested place |
| Visitors and visits | Resident visits and turnover were observed spreading them in the 2010 building study | Bags off beds and sofas; interceptor traps under beds in high-risk homes |
| Directly from a person’s body | Kentucky: bed bugs normally do not reside on or attach to people like lice or ticks | No special body precautions needed; focus on belongings |
How do bed bugs travel? Passive spread in belongings
Adult bed bugs are flat and about 3/16 inch long (roughly 5 mm), and spend most of their lives in cracks and seams. That makes any object with folds a potential carrier. CDC lists luggage, overnight bags, folded clothes, bedding and furniture, and notes that most people do not realise they are transporting bed bugs. Purdue’s extension entomologists add that bed bugs can move from one country to another in a very short time this way.
Travel is the best documented route. CDC says the risk is higher for people who travel frequently and share sleeping spaces where others have slept. A University of Sheffield experiment showed why suitcases matter: bed bugs were twice as likely to gather on bags of worn clothing as on clean clothing, even with no person in the room. The cues that draw them in are covered in what attracts bed bugs.
Prevention when travelling
- Check the bed before unpacking: sheets, mattress seams and piping, especially at the pillow end. University of Kentucky notes that the area behind the headboard is often where hotel infestations start, but headboards are heavy and best left to staff.
- Keep luggage on a stand or hard surface, not on the floor or another bed, and unpack only what you need.
- Seal worn clothing in plastic bags until laundry day.
- If you had bites or saw bugs, put all clothing straight into the washer or dryer when you get home. Kentucky notes that inspecting or vacuuming suitcases is of limited use; they can be heat treated, for example in a hot car in summer, or discarded.
If you saw evidence in a hotel room, Kentucky advises asking for a room in a different part of the building, since infestations sometimes extend to nearby rooms.
Prevention when buying used furniture or moving
Kentucky’s advice is to avoid discarded mattresses and sofas entirely and to examine any secondhand items for faecal spots and other signs. There is no need to stop shopping at consignment stores or yard sales, but running clothing and fabrics through a washer or dryer before storing them is sensible. The risk from antique shops, Kentucky says, is insignificant. To recognise the spots, eggs and cast skins, use our bed bug identification guide.
How do bed bugs spread from apartment to apartment?
Once inside a building, bed bugs walk. Purdue’s extension page describes them moving between rooms or apartments via hallways, or squeezing through tiny cracks in common walls, ceilings or utility ports. They are faster than people expect: CDC says they can travel over 100 feet in a night, though they tend to live within 8 feet of where people sleep.
What field studies in apartment buildings found
The most detailed study followed a 223-unit high-rise between December 2008 and April 2009. Changlu Wang and colleagues found that 101 apartments, 45 per cent of the building, had been infested within 41 months of the first confirmed introduction.
- 53 per cent of apartments adjacent to infested apartments were also infested.
- An average of six bed bugs were caught travelling through apartment entry doors every four weeks.
- Adults were 9 times more likely to disperse than nymphs.
- Half of the interviewed residents with infestations did not know they had bed bugs.
A 2015 Rutgers study marked bed bugs with paint, released them in six apartments and set traps in 24 neighbouring units. Marked bugs turned up in neighbouring apartments next to five of the six release apartments within about a month, whether or not anyone was living in the release unit. Only up to 5 per cent of recaptured marked bugs had moved next door by day 14 or 15, but with estimated populations of 2,433 to 14,291 bugs per apartment, even a small share is a lot of insects.
Can bed bugs spread through walls?
Yes, in the sense that they use the gaps in and around walls. University of Kentucky says they crawl room to room and floor to floor via cracks and openings in walls, floors and ceilings, and lists outlets, switch plates and ceiling to wall junctions among their hiding places. The practical consequence is the one Kentucky draws: inspect the units on either side, above, below and across the hall from any infested apartment. Our guide to apartment and condo pest control explains why a single unit cannot be cleared alone.
Our data: what New York’s filings show about spread and return
New York City requires building owners to report each year how many units had bed bugs, were treated and were re-infested. Our analysis of 722,511 of those filings shows the reported rate falling from 10.36 infested units per 1,000 in 2019 to 2.64 in 2025. We think part of that fall reflects wider compliance bringing in buildings with nothing to report, so the true decline is probably smaller than the headline.
The number that matters for spread is re-infestation. In the 2025 filings, re-infested units ran at 21.4 per cent of infested units in Queens, 18.6 per cent in Brooklyn, 15.7 per cent in Manhattan and 15.1 per cent in the Bronx. Staten Island, with the smallest sample, reported 2 per cent. Roughly one in five treated apartments coming back, in the worst borough, is what you would expect from insects that cross between neighbouring units and survive months without feeding. The full method and caveats are in our New York bed bug data analysis.
Can bed bugs spread from person to person?
Not in the way lice or scabies do. Bed bugs feed for a few minutes and then leave. University of Kentucky entomologists describe feeding as taking three to 10 minutes, after which the bug crawls to a secluded spot to digest; they normally do not reside on or attach to people. So a hug, a handshake or sitting next to someone does not pass them on.
What can move between people is their belongings. A bag, coat or blanket that has spent time in an infested home can carry a bug or two to another. That is how spread happens “from person to person” in practice, and it is why the speed depends on what is shared, not on contact.
Can bed bugs travel on clothes you’re wearing?
It is possible but less common than travel in bags, boxes and furniture. Kentucky lists clothing and shoes among the ways bed bugs are carried into buildings. Because bed bugs leave a host soon after feeding and hide in seams and folds, a bug is more likely to be in a folded garment, a bag or a coat left on a bed than on clothes being worn and moved about. If you have been somewhere infested, a hot dryer cycle for those clothes is the simple fix.
Do pets spread bed bugs?
Rarely. Bed bugs can bite dogs and cats, but a University of Tennessee study of 228 bed bugs from apartments with pets found human blood in 69.3 per cent and dog blood in 3.1 per cent, with cat blood in just one bug. The authors concluded bed bugs predominantly feed on humans and rarely on companion animals.
How easily do bed bugs spread to workplaces, schools and rentals?
A single bed bug found at work or school is usually an introduction, not an infestation. Kentucky’s guidance is that where there are no beds or regular sleeping hosts, a few bed bugs are less likely to multiply, so sightings call for action and inspection but usually not closure. Homes, apartments, hotels and short-term rentals are different, because someone sleeps there. Hosts can use the turnover routine in our short-term rental pest control guide.
What to do if bed bugs are already spreading
An established infestation, especially in a multi-unit building, is a job for a licensed professional, and CDC advises contacting a pest control company experienced with bed bugs. Tell your landlord promptly: Kentucky stresses that buildings should not rely on tenant complaints alone, and unknown infested units become sources of spread. Avoid foggers, which Kentucky describes as ineffective against bed bugs.
Frequently asked questions
How easily are bed bugs spread?
Easily through belongings and between connected homes, but not by touch. In a 2010 study of a 223-unit apartment building, bed bugs reached 45 per cent of apartments within 41 months, and 53 per cent of units next to an infested apartment were also infested. Because about half of infested residents did not know they had bed bugs, spread often goes unnoticed for months.
Do bed bugs stay on your body after a shower?
Bed bugs do not stay on your body in the first place. University of Kentucky entomologists explain that they feed for three to 10 minutes and then crawl back to a hiding place; they do not reside on or attach to people like lice or ticks. A shower is not needed to remove them. Clothing, bags and bedding are what can carry them, and a hot dryer cycle deals with fabrics.
What causes bed bugs to begin with?
Bed bugs always come from somewhere else: they are carried in on luggage, clothing, used furniture or other belongings, or walk in from a neighbouring unit. Cleanliness does not cause them. After a reprieve following the Second World War, University of Kentucky says their rebound was probably due to several factors, including less potent insecticides, global travel and a loss of the vigilance practised in years past.
What instantly kills bed bugs?
Direct contact with steam or a labelled insecticide kills the bugs it reaches, but nothing safe kills a hidden infestation instantly. Heat is the reliable killer of all stages given time: a dryer on medium to high heat for 10 to 20 minutes for fabrics, and professional room heating for a home. University of Kentucky warns that alcohol, bleach, lighters and foggers are ineffective and can cause fires. Always follow the product label.
Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About Bed Bugs, 2024.
- Purdue University Extension Entomology, Bed Bugs: Know the Facts.
- University of Kentucky Entomology, Potter, Bed Bugs, ENTFACT-636.
- Wang, Saltzmann, Chin, Bennett and Gibb, Characteristics of Cimex lectularius infestation and dispersal in a high-rise apartment building, Journal of Economic Entomology 103, 2010.
- Cooper, Wang and Singh, Mark-release-recapture reveals extensive movement of bed bugs within and between apartments, PLoS ONE, 2015.
- Hentley, Webster, Evison and Siva-Jothy, Bed bug aggregation on dirty laundry: a mechanism for passive dispersal, Scientific Reports 7: 11668, 2017.
- Black, Chandler, Trout Fryxell and Vail, The common bed bug does not commonly use canines and felines as a host in low-income, high-rise apartments, Journal of Medical Entomology, 2021.
- The Pest Control Brief, analysis of NYC HPD bed bug disclosure filings, 2026.
