Holidaymakers may have more than airport delays and transport strikes to worry about this year. An unexpected travel nuisance could be lurking on their next flight.

Bed bugs are increasingly being reported on trains and aircraft, prompting one specialist to warn that the world could be experiencing a “peak bed bug” period.

Martim Gois, co-founder and chief executive of bed bug safety certification firm Valpas, told the Daily Mail exclusively that more of the pests are being carried through travel networks than ever before.

Last month, several Southeastern trains were removed from service after bed bugs were reportedly found on staff bags and in drivers’ cabs.

The infestation was reportedly so serious that one driver refused to take a train across the depot unless he was wearing a white, full-body protective suit, according to The Telegraph.

The problem has now reportedly spread to air travel, after passengers on a Qantas service from Perth to Rome said they were bitten during the flight earlier this month.

Qantas subsequently cancelled the aircraft’s return service the next day, taking the Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of operation for thorough cleaning and fumigation.

The airline said passengers affected by the disruption were given accommodation and placed on alternative flights within 48 hours of their scheduled departure.

So why are bed bugs appearing on trains and planes with increasing frequency?

“Bed bugs move with travellers. The more people arriving and departing, the more opportunities there are for bed bugs to move with them,” Mr Gois explained.

He said it was a mistake to view every infestation as a sign of poor local hygiene. “It has nothing to do with how clean a plane, train or hotel is. It is a travel problem, and it grows as travel increases.”

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Hotels are often associated with bed bugs because large numbers of travellers can pass through the same rooms within a short period.

However, the insects can also reach aircraft by hiding in passengers’ luggage before boarding.

“On planes and trains, they are simply passing through while searching for somewhere to settle, such as a bed,” Mr Gois said.

On a long-haul journey, he explained, passengers remain still for hours in a dark cabin, giving a hungry bed bug the chance to emerge and feed. However, the insects do not usually remain on an aircraft in the same way they establish themselves in a bed.

Mr Gois said European capitals popular with British tourists have recorded an annual rise of between 20 and 25 per cent in bed bugs being carried into hotels and intercepted upon arrival.

“The reason is where they live: bed bugs do not live on planes; they live around beds,” he added.

‘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.’

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.’

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. 

‘When we receive reports such as these we check trains thoroughly before they are put back into service when given the all-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. 

‘We continually carry out robust cleaning across our trains and stations, ensuring our customers and employees can travel safely and with confidence.’

Mike Tindall has spoken candidly about the challenging moments he and Zara have faced during their 15-year marriage.

The 47-year-old former England rugby star, who helped his country win the World Cup, admitted that he and Zara do not always confront disagreements immediately.

Even so, he said the couple are generally able to sit down and work through their differences once issues come to the surface.

Mike married Zara, the 45-year-old daughter of Princess Anne, in 2011. The couple share three children: Mia, 12, Lena, eight, and five-year-old Lucas.

Speaking on the Talk Horse podcast, Mike said: ‘I think it all depends on the scenario.

‘When it comes to sport, animals or the children, things are probably quite straightforward. But other nuances can make certain situations more difficult.’

‘Neither of us necessarily goes looking for confrontation until it happens, and that is not always the best approach.’

‘But once it does happen, I think we are actually quite good at talking things through.’

He continued: ‘You just have to try to muddle your way through it. It is never easy, is it?’

Discussing the balance between speaking up and knowing when to remain silent in a relationship, Mike joked that sometimes ‘you just want to annoy someone, just for the sake of it’.

He added: ‘I probably do that a little too much.’

Zara has also acknowledged that they do not agree on everything, saying: ‘I think we enjoy the same things, even if we do not agree on some things.’

According to Mike, however, their shared backgrounds as professional athletes have played an important role in making the marriage work.

He said: ‘We have been very lucky. Obviously, I am very lucky. She is not so lucky – but sort of lucky.’

‘I think it has worked all the way through because we have both been involved in professional sport and understand each other’s individual needs.’

The couple first met at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, which England won with Mike part of the victorious team.

Zara won an Olympic silver medal at London 2012, in the equestrian eventing, alongside team-mates Tina Cook, William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Nicola Wilson.

Her father Captain Mark Phillips is also a former Olympic event rider, having won team gold for Britain in 1972.

Explaining how he gives Zara space before cross-country competitions, which require ‘massive focus,’ Mike said: ‘I’d stay out of the way on a cross-country day, let her focus.

‘I try and make her laugh every now and again to remind her you don’t have to be that serious.’

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That instinct for knowing when to joke continues after a competition.

‘Depending on how it’s gone, you react in the appropriate way,’ he said.

‘It could go really bad or it could have gone really well, where you can go, “You almost f***ed up there!”

‘I think that’s where you know those nuances where you can either lean in, lean out. I think that’s how and why it’s worked so well.’

Mike also admitted that raising three children while Zara continues to compete has brought its own challenges.

Mike said: ‘You forget sometimes life is hard when kids come along and you try to still compete.

‘Fortunately, when Mia came along, that was my last year, so I haven’t been a professional athlete whilst the kids have been around.’

He recognised the guilt Zara can experience trying to combine motherhood with elite sport.

He said: ‘You’ve got to try and play a support role at the same time because mums do have mother’s guilt. It’s a thing.

‘And it can be really hard at times. I won’t say I get it right all the time, but you’ve got to try and do it whatever ways you can.’

The couple also teased each other about Mike taking the children to a football game rather than watching Zara’s cross-country at Blenheim Horse Trials last month.

Mike pointed out that she had won the British Open the last time he stayed away, adding: ‘Maybe not having distractions and kids around could be part of the issue.’

He also credited humour with helping them through sporting setbacks, saying: ‘Sometimes things are s*** and you’ve just got to say s*** and have a joke about how s*** it is.

‘I think that massively helps because sometimes, in those darkest times, only humour can get you through.’

Zara this month told Talk Horse about the tough-love upbringing she received from Princess Anne and Mark Phillips – including being informed she would get no help when she decided to follow her parents into top-level equestrian sport.

The King’s niece said her parents warned her she would have to prove herself if she wanted to make a career out of it.

She also said Olympic gold medallist Mark was such a hard taskmaster that she would struggle to ever win his approval.

And Zara admitted the experience influenced her own approach to parenting, saying she was now trying ‘not to be quite that bad’ with the next generation.

Speaking on the podcast, Zara said: ‘When I was about to leave school – and I had a great last couple of years at school and didn’t do very much work; I played lots of sport – I then thought, [I’ll] just see if I’m any good at it.

‘You know, riding a horse, try and find something that could maybe go all the way.’

She continued: ‘I think my dad and my mum were like, “But you have to do it properly. And this is how it’s going to work. And you’re not getting any help and you need to produce results”.

‘Mum’s very relaxed. She’s like, “Just, you know, just do what you do”. Whereas my father’s like, “More of this, more of that”.

‘My father was quite critical. Very rarely you would get a, “Yeah, that was good”, out of him. So it was always striving to try and get that comment. He was a tough coach.’

Zara went on to win individual gold at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen with her horse Toytown, having taken European individual gold the previous year. 

She was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2006.

Dr. Rachna Shroff dedicated nearly her entire professional life to understanding cancer and helping develop better treatments—only to lose her own life to the disease she spent decades fighting.

Shroff, 47, died after battling “an aggressive cancer,” the University of Arizona announced Monday. Over the course of her career, she earned international recognition as a trailblazer in cancer research.

At the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Shroff served as associate director of clinical investigations. She was also chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology within the Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine – Tucson.

The university remembered her as an internationally respected specialist and a pioneering voice in stomach cancer research. Her passion for scientific discovery began while she was still in high school, when she received the 1993 Osler Fellowship.

According to Today, Shroff received her cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Doctors later confirmed that the cancer had spread and was terminal adenocarcinoma, a disease affecting the gland-forming cells that line organs throughout the body.

Shroff became internationally known for her work on bile duct cancer, also called cholangiocarcinoma. She entered the field when the rare and notoriously difficult-to-treat disease had few options and no therapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the university said.

“The field has changed dramatically,” the university said, pointing in part to the landmark clinical trials Shroff led as a principal investigator.

Even after facing a life-limiting diagnosis, Shroff continued working to help future patients. In September, she created the Conquer Cancer – Rachna Shroff Endowed Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancers.

Within just weeks, she surpassed her goal of raising $1.35 million to fund the next generation of cancer research and innovation, according to the university’s announcement.

Shroff joined the University of Arizona in 2018 and spent the years that followed advancing immunotherapy and experimental drug treatments. Colleagues said she remained deeply committed to the human side of medicine throughout her work.

Her research also helped shape new treatments for pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers. She authored more than 80 scientific papers and delivered over 130 presentations during her career.

In a 2024 interview with GIOncology Now, Shroff spoke about the importance of expanding access to clinical trials. “It is our role and responsibility to have clinical trials available to the patients that come to see us,” she said, adding that every patient should ideally be offered “something cutting-edge, different and innovative.”

The daughter of a nephrologist mother and a biochemist father, Shroff understood early on that she wanted to combine scientific discovery with compassion for patients, the university said.

Alongside her professional achievements, the university said her most treasured identities were those of a wife, mother and friend.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Puneet Shroff, and their children, Simran and Sachin.

A fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology remembered Shroff as one of the leading experts in pancreatic and biliary tract cancers, as well as a dedicated mentor and advocate for patients.

In a post on Facebook, the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation wrote that, beyond her professional accomplishments, Shroff ‘brought fun everywhere she went.’

‘Whether she was quoting Beyoncé in a talk about clinical trials or getting us to throw our hands during her amazing Bollywood lesson, Rachna made us live in the moment and laugh, even in the hardest of times. Our hearts are with her family and friends in the days ahead and beyond,’ the foundation wrote. 

‘She has made tangible differences for patients and their families throughout her career. From being a valued member of our Science and Medical Advisory Board to helping build one of the nation’s largest clinical and research programs in biliary tract cancer as a faculty member at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and as an empathetic and expert clinician, she made a difference in every facet.’

Lisa Salem Craine, a colleague of Shroff’s, wrote that the cholangiocarcinoma community lost ‘a legend, a friend, and a truly extraordinary human being.’

‘Dr Rachna Shroff was brilliant, kind, compassionate, and a shining light to everyone fortunate enough to know her. I will never forget watching her teach 600 patients, caregivers, researchers, physicians, and industry leaders how to Bollywood dance! That was Rachna – bringing people together, spreading joy, and lighting up every room she entered,’ she wrote. 

‘Her contributions to bile duct cancer research and the lives she touched will never be forgotten. Rest peacefully, my friend. Your light will continue to shine.’