Two women are suing Marriott International Inc. and a Lisle Marriott Conference Center, saying they suffered numerous bed bug bites during a stay at the hotel in August, 2011. (Richard Naylor, University of Sheffield / August 20, 2012)

Two women filed a lawsuit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court againstMarriott International Inc.and a now-closed Lisle Marriott Conference Center after claiming they and their respective children received numerous bed bug bites while staying at the hotel last August.

Pamela April of Phoenix, Ariz., and Char’o Safford of Chicago are suing Marriott and the former Hickory Ridge Marriott Conference Hotel, 1195 Summerhill Dr. in Lisle, for failing to provide guests with a sanitary rooms, failing to inspect and exterminate rooms and failing to recognize signs of bed bug attacks, among other claims.

April, Safford and the two children stayed at the suburban hotel from Aug. 6 to Aug. 15, 2011, according to the lawsuit.

During her stay at the hotel, April noticed bumps and bites all over her child’s “arms, hands, back, legs and scalp” while helping him get dressed, according to the lawsuit. She brought this to the attention of the manager, who asked if April had made a request for clean sheets, the lawsuit says.

The two women and both children were diagnosed as having “numerous bed bug bites from a significant infestation,” according to the lawsuit.

Shortly after their stay at the Marriott, April and Safford were contacted by a Marriott Claims Services Corporation adjuster confirming the presence of bed bugs in the room they had been staying, the lawsuit says.

The 10-story Hickory Ridge Marriott Conference Hotel closed in late 2011.

Marriott International Inc.did not return phone calls or emails Monday night. April and Safford’s lawyer, Betty Tsamis, could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Purchase Bed Bug Rid on QVC.

(Source: chicagotribune.com)

My mom manages an apartment complex. Last month, a tenant called her in a panic. He was covered in itchy welts. He couldn’t walk into his apartment without feeling like bugs were crawling on him. And he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days. He’d fled to a hotel room to get some relief.

My mom called an exterminator. But soon after, another tenant called with the same problem. These weren’t easy-to-kill pests like fleas or fire ants. They were bedbugs – and they were spreading.

Bedbug infestations are becoming more common. In a survey of 38 city, state, and county consumer protection agencies by the Consumer Federation of America and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators, bedbugs were the fastest-growing and worst complaint.

Bedbugs are getting so bad that Terminix has been compiling an Annual Bedbug-Infested Cities list since 2010. This year’s winner: Philadelphia. Cincinnati, New York City, Chicago, and Detroit also made it into the Top 5.

Once bedbugs have infested your house, you’ll need a professional exterminator to get rid of them. In my mom’s case, she spent $1,200. Here is what you need to know to keep that from happening to you…

What bedbugs are

Bedbugs are tiny pests that feed on human blood. Unlike many insects, they live inside your mattress – or pillows, blankets, couch, and clothing. They can also spread into your walls, electrical outlets, and appliances. They leave behind eggs, skin, and excrement.

And if that wasn’t gross enough, they bite – a lot. The tenant I talked about before? They had bitten him so many times he had to visit a doctor for help, and while the doctor told him that bedbugs don’t spread illnesses, they do leave behind itchy bite marks.

How you get them

The most obvious way homes become infested is by bringing in soft furniture that was already playing host to bedbugs or their eggs. Once inside, the bed bugs will spread to every warm hiding spot in the house.

Bedbugs infest hotels too, so if you travel, you might bring home more than some towels.

And while it’s not nearly as likely, you can pick them up from friends’ or relatives’ houses, dorms, schools, and public buses.

Treatment for infestations

Over-the-counter bug spray won’t work on bedbugs, and even the usual chemical sprays used by exterminators have little effect. If you do wind up with an infestation, you’ll have to pay for specialized treatments.

In my mom’s case, the exterminator suggested using a combination of high-heat steam and chemicals.

First, the tenants had to leave for 24 hours. Next, the exterminator emptied closets, dresser drawers, and laundry baskets for treatment. All of the fabric surfaces in the houses, including the mattress, box springs, couches, clothing, and towels were treated with steam and then sealed in plastic.

The apartment was then sealed off for 24 hours to give the high heat time to kill the remaining bed bugs. Afterwards, the exterminator came back and treated the entire place with a chemical solution. The process took two days and cost $1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment. A larger house would have cost much more. Some experts told The New York Times that it isn’t uncommon to spend $5,000.

Thirty days later, the exterminator returned again to do a visual inspection. Once the tenant moves out of the apartment, he’ll install a motion sensor that picks up on any movement to test the carpet and walls. The motion sensor will cost $85 and must be done in every vacant apartment – in case the bedbugs have spread through the walls.

How to avoid the whole mess

Considering the cost of extermination, prevention is much cheaper than the cure. Follow these steps and you’ll greatly reduce your chances of infestation.

When buying used furniture…

• Look it over – Bedbugs are small, brown, and flat. While they’re not big, both bugs and eggs are visible with the naked eye. You can also see tiny brownish red stains left behind. Before taking used sofas or mattresses into your house, inspect them carefully. Remove and unzip any cushions. Look inside crevices on sofas and flip mattress over to inspect the underside.
• Treat it harshly – You can’t treat heavy infestations yourself, but you may have some success (and peace of mind) by treating smaller possible infestations. Run a steamer over every inch of the furniture, including in any crevices. You can also apply a chemical spray designed for bedbugs, like Phantom and Transport.
• Wrap it tightly – Before bringing a second-hand mattress inside your home, place the mattress inside a case with a zippered closure. Many retailers sell cases designed for bedbugs. If there are any bedbugs on the mattress, they will eventually die without food – but bedbugs can live for several months without feeding.

When traveling…

• Look it over – Place your suitcase as far away from the bed as possible, and elevate it off the floor as soon as you walk in the room. Remove the bedding and inspect the mattresses for bedbugs. If you think you see signs of infestation, ask to change rooms.
• Hang your clothes – Take your clothes out of the suitcase and hang them up. Avoid putting items in the dresser where bedbugs can hide. Instead, place your delicates in a sealed plastic bag on a shelf in the closet.
• Wash before re-entry – Wash any clothing you took on your trip in hot water and dry on high heat before you go back into your house. This will kill any bedbugs that may have come home with you.
• Treat your suitcase – OK, this is severe and only works if you have a large stand-alone freezer, but: Toss your suitcase in a deep freezer for 24 to 48 hours. The cold will kill any bedbugs.
• Look it overagain– Inspect your clothes and suitcases after you wash or freeze them. Two survivors can quickly multiply into a whole-home infestation.

Purchase Bed Bug Rid on QVC.

(Source: Yahoo!)

In the past few days, students have returned to the UNO campus. Thousands have moved in, ready for another year or for the first year of their college career.

Channel 6 News was there when one student saw her room for the first time. This was a big day for Jonnisha McCleod, the day she set out on her own. College has always been a part of her future and that future begins now at UNO. “Yeah, I’m excited, are you kidding me? I’m ready.”

So is UNO. Volunteers helped incoming students navigate all the paperwork and learn the dos and don’ts of dorm life.

Last year on the UNL campus, there was a bedbug infestation that caused a lot of problems for students and administrators. The director of UNO Housing said the design of the dormitories discourages widespread outbreaks of anything, but bedbugs are especially unwelcome.

Bill Pickett says, “There is no spray that takes care of bedbugs, they have to be professionally treated and typically that is the heat-treated process that is the most effective and knock on wood, we’ve been pretty lucky with bedbugs.”

The luck is actually a product of preparation and precaution and as long as they keep the bedbugs and any other epidemic away, then students like Jonnisha can concentrate on studying.

“I wanted to be more independent and I’m tired of being with my parents all the time. I feel like it is my time to move on so they don’t have to take care as much. I need to take care of myself now, I’m grown. I have to grow up sooner or later.”

Jonnisha is well on her way to growing up, but like most parents, her’s would be happy with a slow, steady pace.

Classes start on Monday. Jonnisha tells us her major is social work.

Purchase Bed Bug Rid on QVC.

(Source: wowt.com)

BALTIMORE (WJZ)– At Sinai Hospital, bedbugs have been discovered in an outpatient treatment room.

According to WJZ’s media partner, “The Baltimore Sun,” the bugs came from a man who received treatment at the Alvin and Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute.

Efforts were made to get rid of the bugs and make sure that no other areas were affected.

The hospital will continue to conduct checks during the next month as a precaution.

Purchase Bed Bug Rid from QVC.

(Source: baltimore.cbslocal.com)

In January 2011, Melissa Mehran showed us the bed bug problem in her Port Richey apartment. 

At the time, Melissa was convinced the bugs weren’t coming from her bed, but from the walls. Still, management at Regency Palms Apartments said getting rid of the insects was her responsibility. 

Fast forward to the present and another woman, Cassie Wilson, living in the same complex is tormented by the same problem. 

“This is all of the bugs and what they left behind all through there,” said Wilson as she held up her mattress.  

Wilson also says beg bugs are coming from the walls and she’s using tape to try and prove it. She captures bugs with the tape when she seems them on her wall. 

But just like in Melissa’s case, management says she’s responsible and must pay almost $700 in pest control charges. 

Cassie is a single mother and works two jobs. She says until she saves up enough money, she has no choice to but to stay here. 

“I’m forced to, I have no place else to go,” she said tearfully. 

Wilson didn’t know what to do, so she was searching on the internet and came across last year’s ABC Action News story about Melissa’s plight (see http://wfts.tv/OjhVvu ).  Watching it brought to her tears.

“I started to cry, because they are trying to tell me that I brought these bugs in and it’s my imagination,” said Wilson. 

An inspection from the Florida Department of Business Professional Regulation found the apartment complex met standards. But the department’s authority only includes common areas, not individual apartments. 

I also contacted management of the apartment complex, but have yet to hear back. 

In the past, their attorney said the lease that tenants sign says bed bugs are the responsibility of the tenant. 

So perhaps the way for Cassie to contest that is to file a lawsuit. 

Meanwhile, she says, she didn’t pay this month’s rent and is facing eviction. 

“Why should I pay rent to live with bugs?  It’s not a cheap place to live.  I pay good money to be here, and I shouldn’t have to live with bugs,” said Wilson. 

She says until she gets out, she’ll have to trash her mattresses and be on the lookout for more bugs.

Purchase Bed Bug Rid on QVC

(Source: abcactionnews.com)

Indianapolis

Only one confirmed infestation in the past 12 months

By Sarah HogsedRegister News Writer

Good night, sleep tight,
Don’t let the bedbugs bite.
And if they do
Then take your shoe
And knock ‘em ‘til
They’re black and blue!
Old English Nursery Rhyme (~1860) – Author Unknown

Among the list of things that give us the creeps, bed bugs are near the top.  If you think learning about bed bugs will keep you awake at night, stop reading now …  
 
Bed bugs are light brown to brown insects which grow to be approximately ¼ of an inch long.   Although not exclusively nocturnal, they tend to hide in dark crevices during the day and feed at night.  They are attracted to heat and carbon dioxide and they feed on blood, making a warm, exhaling, sleeping human quite an appealing buffet.  A bed bug feeds by inserting a straw-like proboscis into your skin and sucking out blood for about five to ten minutes.  The feeding process is not particularly noticeable such that most people sleep right through it.  Their bites cause rashes and allergic reactions as well as quite a bit of psychological angst.  Fortunately, unlike other insects which feed on our blood like mosquitoes or ticks, bed bugs do not spread disease from person to person. 
 
People often remark on the resilience of the cockroach, but the bed bug deserves some accolades in this category as well.  While a bed bug generally likes to feed once every 5-10 days, it can survive up to six months without feeding.  The bed bug has impressive temperature tolerance.  It can survive for 10 days at 14 ^oF and around 15 minutes at 115 ^oF.  Bed bugs are also adept at developing resistance to pesticides.  To sum it up, it takes quite an effort to starve, freeze, roast, or poison a bed bug.
 
Our relationship with bed bugs is long-standing.  Bed bugs evolved to feed on bats and developed a taste for humans when our ancestors started sharing caves with the bats.  You can track the geographic spread of bed bugs through literature references.  They plagued the Egyptian pharaohs in 1500 BC, bothered the Greeks in 400 BC, moved on to Germany in the 11^th century, then France in the 13^th century, and, like the Romans, Vikings, Saxons, and Normans before them, invaded Britain in the 17^th century.
 
By the middle of the 19^th century bed bugs in Britain had become enough of a nuisance to inspire the famous nursery rhyme above. (By the way, the “sleep tight” part of the rhyme refers to the use of rope netting as a mattress support rather than the box springs we use today.  New or “tight” ropes provided better support for an improved sleeping experience.)  For a while, the cold British winters kept bed bug numbers somewhat in check.  The introduction of central heating in British homes in the early 20^th century led to a tremendous increase in the bed bug population.  A study by British health agencies in 1933 concluded that 100% of British households had bed bugs. The desperate Brits tried just about anything and everything to rid themselves of bed bugs.  They cleaned intensively, discarded infested bedding, smoked their houses, and even applied arsenic and cyanide, but the bed bugs survived.
 
Then in 1940, science provided a miracle, or so it seemed, with the pesticide DDT.  Just a single application of DDT was normally sufficient to eradicate a bed bug infestation.  The wide spread use of DDT in the developed world largely eliminated bed bugs by 1950.  In the 1960’s, however, the detrimental effects of DDT on wildlife, particularly birds like the American eagle, became known and it was no longer generally used in the developed world.
 
The elimination of DDT set the stage for a bed bug comeback.  Bed bugs can only travel short distances on their own, but are adept at hitching a ride on you or in your suitcase, giving bet bugs the chance to fly the friendly skies from continent to continent.  By the late 1990’s bed bugs started to make their presence known in the U.S., particularly in hotels.  (In case you are wondering, yes we do have reports of bed bugs here in Chapelboro.  Reliable sources indicate that they are Duke fans.) 
 
So the battle with the bed bug has been taken up again.  Even if we wanted to go that route, DDT wouldn’t help this time as today’s bed bugs are the descendents of those who survived the earlier DDT onslaught and are thus DDT resistant.  Since their resurgence here in the U.S., an impressive array of pesticides has been deployed against them.  None of these new pesticides have been as effective as DDT was in the 1940’s and the bed bugs are already developing resistance to them.
 
So like the Brits in the 19^th century, we are getting creative in trying to fight back.  Finding a natural predator for the bed bug has been explored.  It turns out that cockroaches like to eat bed bugs, but unleashing a hoard of cockroaches into your house to clear it of bed bugs is, to put it lightly, not likely to be a popular solution.  The most effective technique at present is to heat the affected rooms to 122 ^oF or higher for several hours.  You can hire a specialized company to come do this, but it’s expensive and is quite a hassle.
 
Scientists are working to develop more effective and elegant techniques to eliminate bed bugs.  One of the most promising has to do with their sex lives.  Bed bugs reproduce through a process called traumatic insemination in which the male pierces the female’s abdomen to inject sperm.  (Romantic, eh?)  Communication among bed bugs, including the amorous kind, is mediated by chemical signals.  Scientists observing bed bugs noticed that sometimes males traumatically inseminate other males, causing the death of the recipient. Scientists in Sweden are experimenting with synthetic pheromones to promote the incidence of male-on-male sexual interactions to reduce or eliminate bed bug populations.  Even if this technique proves to be successful it will be some time until it becomes generally available for use.
 
OK, so now that you know more that you may have ever wanted to know about bed bugs, how can you help to prevent an infestation in your home?  The best defense it to not let them in.  Check on-line hotel registries before making reservations, but bear in mind that you can also pick up bed bugs from airplanes, movie theaters, couches and other upholstered furniture, not to mention summer camp.  If you think you have stayed somewhere with bed bugs leave your suitcase to bake in the car on a hot sunny day for a few hours when you get home, then wash and dry your clothing at the hottest possible settings.  If you think you may have bed bugs in your home, call a licensed exterminator immediately.  There are also dog-sniffing services to help determine if you have bed bugs, but you would need to employ other techniques to eradicate them.
 
OK, sleep tight and …

Purchase Bed Bug Rid from QVC.

Bedbugs are small, reddish brown creatures. In addition to beds, these smaller-scale vampires can live in picture frames, doormats or almost any crevice they can crawl into. And by all accounts, their numbers are on the rise again.

While the exact cause for the ongoing bedbug resurgence is not known, experts at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention have suggested several contributing factors. These include the bugs’ increased resistance to pesticides, more travel, lack of knowledge about the bugs and the decline or elimination of pest control programs at many public health agencies.

The Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky determined that nursing homes account for about 18% of all bedbug infestations. Facilities tend to be ideal breeding grounds for several reasons. One is that the little critters are attracted to the heat and chemicals emitted by residents. In addition, residents tend to stay in bed for prolonged periods of time and live in close proximity to one another, so the risk of a rapid spread from one single infestation to an epidemic is serious.

For long-term care professionals, bedbugs pose headaches on several fronts. The most obvious issue is the health risks they pose to residents, staff and anyone else in the building. Skin rashes, allergic symptoms and psychological effects all have been linked to bedbug bites. Moreover, their presence can spark complaints about sanitary conditions and undermine a facility’s reputation. And like any other problem that can be tied to a long-term care facility, they can invite lawsuits.

If your facility is dealing with a bedbug problem, calling a professional pest control company may be your fastest option. And according to the American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services, there are other steps that you can and should be taking as well:

* Check mattresses – Conduct a visual inspection of bedding as it is brought in for evidence of bedbugs.

* Require mattress and box springs to be encased – An inexpensive synthetic covering on mattresses and especially box springs prevents bedbugs from reaching the fibrous interior or hiding along edges or under tags. For pests that have already found harborage, the encasement prevents their escape and access to food sources.

* Perform an inspection of incoming furniture – Much like bedding, couches, plush chairs and other furniture can easily harbor bedbugs.

* Utilize monitoring technology – Equipment that uses CO2, heat and a kairomone can attract bedbugs out of hiding within two hours. This technology is currently cost-prohibitive for private use but it is available through some pest management professionals.

* Bedbug-sniffing dogs – Trained dogs are among the most effective detectors of the presence of beg bugs. Many pest management companies are now utilizing these trained canines to help identify infestations.

If you are dealing with this problem or suspect it might exist, the steps above can help. And the sooner you take action, the better. After all, it’s your facility. There’s no reason to let the bedbugs bite.

goo.gl/WUXcy

Head lice aren’t the only insects becoming pests in schools. Bed bugs are hitchhiking to class on bookbags, too. Image credit: Lisa Ames. 

Just when parents thought head lice were the only insects to invade classrooms, bed bugs have been added to the list. Hotels are typically the place that comes to mind when bedbugs are mentioned, but the critters like book bags, too.

Bed bugs began making national news about three years ago. While they don’t carry disease, the pests are notoriously hard to get rid of, and just the suggestion that bed bugs might be in your home is enough to make most people’s skin crawl.

They also carry a stigma that prevents people from telling their friends or their children’s teacher that they are battling bed bugs at home.

“You could say that your house is surrounded by mosquitos and your neighbors would think nothing of it, but you don’t want them to know you have bed bugs,” said Paul Guillebeau, an Extension entomologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“But bed bugs don’t have anything to do with sanitation. It doesn’t mean that a house is dirty or not cared for.”

While the bugs can’t be transferred from human to human, there have been reports of them hitching a ride to school in students’ book bags — and book bag to book bag transfer could be possible.

School officials only notify parents when there is a serious chance one child’s bed bugs could have infested another child’s book bag, which is not common but is possible.

When parents learn that one of their children’s classmates brought bed bugs to school, the first thing they should remember is not to panic. There are practical steps and precautions they can take to make sure their child doesn’t carry bedbugs into the house, Guillebeau said.

If the school sends home a letter notifying parents that someone in their child’s class brought bed bugs to school, parents should not let their child bring their back pack inside the house. Leave it on the porch or in the car, he said.

“If I received notification from the school about bed bugs, I would immediately wash and dry my child’s clothes when they arrived home from school. And I would not bring any items inside before a thorough inspection or treating the items to a heat treatment,” Guillebeau said.

Simply leaving the book bag in a closed car during the hottest part of the day or emptying the book bag and placing it into a hot dryer for 45 minutes should kill any bugs.

If you do notice bites on yourself or your child, or see bed bugs inside your house, the first rule of dealing with bed bugs still applies: Don’t panic.

The bugs are hard, but not impossible, to control. You will, however, have to call a professional exterminator to handle the problem, Guillebeau said.

“It’s just not a situation that amateurs can take care of themselves,” he said.

While bed bug treatment can be pricey, it may be less expensive than repeatedly trying to kill the bed bugs yourself. Consumers should be careful about who they hire to exterminate bed bugs, Guillebeau said.

Not all pest control companies have experience with bed bugs, so make sure to ask the company you’re considering about their experience with bedbugs, and don’t be afraid to ask for references.

There are a number of bed bug resources available including Georgia Department of Public Health handbooks and fact sheets available at http://health.state.ga.us/epi/zvbd/infest/index.asp.

goo.gl/WUXcy

The Housing Authority of Winston-Salem has spent $400,000 over the past two years battling bedbugs, with no end in sight.

But bedbugs aren’t just in public housing: Experts say bedbugs are on the resurgence in all kinds of housing nationwide, thanks to an increase in travel, lack of knowledge about the ways of the pest and increased resistance to pesticides.

But who pays for getting rid of bedbugs in rental property? Right now, the responsibility is with the landlord. An effort last year in the N.C. General Assembly to shift some responsibility to tenants easily passed the state House but died in the Senate.

“If we find bedbugs as part of our regular inspections, we will follow up and send a notice to the property owner and expect them to correct the situation,” said Bruce Bailiff, the code enforcement supervisor in the Winston-Salem Community and Business Development Department.

State Rep. Darrell McCormick, R-Yadkin, said his bill would have required tenants to cooperate with extermination efforts.

The bill would have had tenants pay extermination costs if a clean unit became infested more than 60 days after any prior cleanup, unless an inspection of nearby apartments showed a more general infestation. In that case, the landlord would still have had to pick up the tab.

Nathan Tabor, a private landlord, said he worries about the potential costs with his 400 units and the cost to taxpayers for public housing decontamination.

“I don’t know what the solution is because it is not fair to a tenant, if they don’t have bedbugs, to move into an apartment that has pre-existing bedbugs,” Tabor said. “It is not fair to the landlord if someone moves in and brings them into the complex.”

Larry Woods, the chief executive of the Housing Authority, said that because the people who live in public housing tend to be more transient, getting rid of bedbugs is a big priority — and expense.

“We take aggressive measures, probably more than any other landlord does, because of the population that we work with,” Woods said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while bedbugs were once seen as a problem only in developing countries, they are rapidly spreading in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

“It is a problem all over the country,” Woods said. “There have been bedbugs in news stations, Radio City Music Hall, and Wake Forest University has had them.”

Although they are pests, health experts say they are not carriers of disease.

“Bedbugs are not considered a public health issue,” said Bob Whitwam, the environmental health director at the Forsyth County Health Department. “We have no jurisdiction. We do regulate motels, so by virtue of regulating motels we regulate them — but not in private homes or apartments.”

The common bedbug, also known as Cimex lectularius , is about 3/16-inch long and up to 1/8-inch wide. It is reddish-brown and oval shaped.

The bugs feed, typically at night, by biting the skin and sucking out blood. They do not become embedded in the skin. During the day they hide in mattresses or in cracks. If conditions are right, they can breed and feed year round.

Treating bedbugs can get expensive. One preferred technique is heat treatment, which involves sealing up windows and doors and heating the interior of an apartment to 120 degrees for four hours.

The tenants have to move out for a day and can’t even go back inside in their own clothes: People have to change into medical scrubs in a restroom and leave their street clothes for treatment.

The cost can be $700 to $1,200 for one unit, Woods said. And there’s no guarantee that someone won’t come back inside the very next day and bring in more bedbugs from another dwelling.

“They can be on a sofa or on a chair,” Woods said.

goo.gl/WUXcy

(Source: www2.journalnow.com)

Ashley Hurley insists a bed bug problem that has run rampant through her apartment has become so bad that she and her two children can’t live there anymore until the management fixes it.

After a number of treatments ordered by the superintendent have failed to eradicate the pests from all the rooms of the apartment in the Timbercreek building at 24 Helen Ave., Hurley has been forced to take her family to live temporarily with her mother.

“It’s traumatizing. I just can’t live like this anymore,” Hurley said Wednesday as she, her seven-year-old son Quentin and three-month-old daughter Gabriella sat on the front porch of her mother’s home on Ontario Street.

Hurley has red blotches from bug bites up and down both arms, and Quentin has some as well.

“For the last three months I’ve lived out of garbage bags, trying to keep my clothes away from the bugs. It’s unfair.”

In a call from an Expositor reporter to the apartment building, superintendent “Donna” answered the phone, but as soon as questions were asked, she said, “I have nothing to say to you, sir,” and hung up the phone.

Timbercreek Asset Management officials at the company’s Toronto head office were unavailable for comment.

Hurley, a 25-year-old social worker for group homes who is on maternity leave with Gabriella, said the bed bug infestation first became noticeable shortly after she and Quentin moved into their unit on a lease on Oct. 1, 2011.

“I noticed a bug crawling up my wall in my living room two weeks after moving in,” she said.

Hurley said she told the superintendent – a different one at the time.

She said that superintendent examined it, confirmed it was a bed bug, and said the management had trouble with them in her unit before the young family moved in.

Over the next nine months, that superintendent and her successor ordered 10 spray treatments – all to no avail.

After four treatments, they had to stop temporarily until Gabriella was born because Hurley’s doctor expressed concern about the possible impact on the child during pregnancy.

The treatments resumed after the birth, but the infestations have not abated.

“I have not slept in my bed since March, due to the bugs being on me when I get out of bed in the morning, and being bit at least 30 times a night,” said Hurley.

Furniture she recently acquired through a lease-to-own merchandiser fell prey to infestations within a few days. The company told her it wouldn’t take back the furniture for any exchange.

She said the superintendent told her the landlord won’t reimburse her for all the extra time she has had to launder the clothing, because there is a possibility she might have brought in the pest with her.

On the weekend, Hurley said she awoke on her couch to find two huge nests, and decided she and her family couldn’t stay in the apartment any longer.

“Now I am at the point where I no longer have a place to sleep in my home, and I’m to the point that we have to stay with my mother.”

Hurley’s lease is up for a first-year renewal at the end of September. She is looking for some kind of compensation for her costs, and to be moved to another unit.

“With global travel and new limits on pesticides, bed bugs have spread to just about every city in the world,” the Brant County Health Unit says on its website.

“The fear of being blamed for a bed bug infestation can prevent some people from reporting bed bugs in their home, which only makes the problem worse.

“Rather than try to place blame, it is more important to take action. If we all do our part to prevent, identify and act, we can control this pest.”

michael-allan.marion@sunmedia.ca

——

The Brant County Health Unit provides information on how to identify a bed bug problem and how to treat it, by referring enquirers to a website, www.bedbugs.ca, which the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has prepared for all health units.

Some facts from the website:

– Bed bugs are small insects, about the size of an apple seed, with oval-shaped bodies and no wings. They usually come out and bite at night.

– Even the cleanest houses, hotels or apartments can get bed bugs, but regular inspection and cleaning can help prevent an infestation.

– One of the best ways to control a beg bug infestation is to spot the problem early and act quickly.

– If you find bed bugs in your home, your local public health unit may be a source of additional source of information, or talk to your landlord, building manager, or a pest control professional.

goo.gl/WUXcy

(Source: brantfordexpositor.ca)

The University of Nebraska residence halls were hit hard with bed bugs last year, but UNL was quick to take action and use every measure necessary to handle the problem.

Over $450,000 has been spent to help eliminate and prevent problems in the future. Director Sue Gildersleeve says the whole situation was a learning experience. “In some ways it’s a positive experience so we’ve learned a lot and have processes and resources in place that were not available in Lincoln prior to this time,” she said.

With classes beginning in a couple of weeks, each room has been checked twice by dogs and will be checked once more before move-in. We spoke with students on campus to get their opinion on the upcoming year and whether they had any concerns.

“They heated them up to 120 degrees or whatever for five hours and I think that’d take care of them. In my opinion, I’m not too worried,” said UNL junior, Derek Christensen.

“I just kind of forgot about it so I’m not really worried about it for this next semester or this next coming school year at all,” said Emily Snell, a junior at UNL.

The Housing Center says the most important thing for the upcoming year is that students are aware. There are several steps students can take to help prevent bed bugs such as being cautious while traveling back to school and checking hotel rooms for bed bugs.

Also avoiding clutter in their dorms and keeping food cleaned up and off the floor. Gildersleeve says bed bugs are a part of life so if and when a case does arrive, UNL will be prepared. “I think it’s going to be fine. I mean, I think they did a really great job last year,” she said.

Each residence hall will be holding a meeting the Friday before classes start to make students aware and inform them on what to do if they suspect a problem.

goo.gl/WUXcy

(Source: klkntv.com)

Bedbugs have managed to creep back into Gastonia’s Salvation Army homeless shelter. A problem that has haunted the shelter in summers past, there appears to be no permanent way to get rid of the insidious pests.

A resident of the shelter describes the situation as “really difficult to sleep in.” The resident awoke in the middle of the night because he felt something in his bed. When he shined a light onto his mattress, it was completely alive and crawling with bedbugs.

The Gaston County Health Department does not inspect homeless shelters.

“We offer free information on how to get rid of pests like bedbugs, but we can’t provide free care,” said Shannon Clubb, the public relations officer for the Health Department.

Yet, getting rid of bedbugs is incredibly difficult. They are small, reproduce quickly, and seem to spring up annually along with the summer’s heat. Most active at night, they feed off of human blood and often cause exposed skin to develop welts or small, itchy red bumps.

The problem is most ubiquitous among homeless shelters. Many newcomers unknowingly carry the little hitchhiking pests in their clothing or blankets.

The most effective way of ridding them is through pest control companies, a luxury the Gastonia Salvation Army homeless shelter cannot afford.

Annie Thompson, head of the Lighthouse Homeless Shelter and Thrift Store in Clover, S.C., is grateful to have not encountered the problem, and is praying for those who have to deal with the pests.

“Bedbugs are as bad as roaches or worse,” she said. “I hope everybody can find a solution and try and keep them out.”

Thompson advises Gastonia’s shelter to scald their beds and disinfect the entire shelter.

“Whatever they’ve got in there, they’re going to have to take everything out. I wish them luck and God bless them,” Thompson says.

goo.gl/WUXcy

(Source: gastongazette.com)

Record spring rainfall has led to warnings that rats may have been flushed out of overflowing sewer systems and hunting around for new lodgings. BBC Panorama has been investigating whether the squeeze on council budgets could be affecting our ability to keep ahead of the vermin population.

Last year in the UK, a survey by the industry found that local council pest controllers made roughly 300,000 rat-related visits to people’s homes. There is no official statistic to measure the rat population, but councils are also being routinely called out to grapple with the return of the bed-bug to Britain - after being all but eradicated half a century ago - as well as the ever-present cockroach.

And they are feeling the pressure.

Over the past two years, amid tightening budgets, 29 councils have pulled out of the pest control business entirely and others have started to charge for their services.

Councils are obliged to keep their own land free of rats and mice and have some powers to intervene to make private landowners do the same, but they are not legally required to provide a pest control service.

In Stevenage, the council has introduced a £47 charge for pest control, which initially resulted in a 50% drop in rat-related calls, although those numbers have begun to recover.

DIY dangers

Chris Woodard of the council’s pest control team said that when faced with the one-time charge, people were giving more thought to tackling the problem on their own: “I think people just thought, ‘oh, we’ll try to deal with that ourselves and we’ll go out and buy some poison for a few pounds’.”

But he warned that the DIY route can be dangerous.

“Most people I see putting it down do it in a totally inappropriate manner, thereby poisoning wildlife and doing themselves some harm,” he said.

Private companies are often the choice for domestic pest problems, but Simon Forrester of the British Pest Control Association said even competitively-priced private firms are sometimes beyond the reach of the most vulnerable.

“Local authorities are the safety net for society, and many people who can’t afford pest control need to find some sort of support, they’re often the ones who have the worst pest problems near and in where they live.”

Graham Jukes of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health said he believes cutbacks will lead to more problems with pests.

“Resources to actually deal with the problem around the country are actually diminishing and so I believe the problem is getting worse,” he said, adding, “populations will increase… damage and the potential loss of wellbeing will increase as well.”

Council fees ‘lazy’

But that view is countered by private contractors such as David Channon, of Microbee Ltd.

He said in areas where private pest controllers have taken over, infestations have not gone up.

“There hasn’t been a sudden collapse in confidence or a sudden outbreak of pests in any of the locations that have had private contractors,” said Mr Channon.

But Chris Woodard from Stevenage said the view from the front line is that budget-cutting by councils will lead to pest populations increasing.

“As far as public health pests go, they will be out of control… none of this is measurable quickly, it’ll be a long term approach, if something is going to happen over the next three, five, maybe 10 years.”

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said pest control was a matter for individual councils and that given the amount of overall budget spending that goes to local councils, they have to play a part in spending cuts.

He added: “There are many ways for councils to make sensible savings rather than the lazy option of introducing charges. Councils can protect front-line services through better procurement, greater transparency and sharing back office services.”

Mr Jukes also thinks there is also a wider issue of co-ordination among the varying government departments or agencies that have an interest in public health, particularly with regard to pest control.

“The question is, are they being co-ordinated in any shape or form and my view is no, they’re not.”

goo.gl/WUXcy

(Source: BBC)