Bed bugs bite family — comment on this story
Posted on May 17, 2008
Filed Under Canada |
When a rash broke out all over Ericka Henshaw’s body, she was told it was a side-effect of being pregnant.
The Sudbury resident spent a week away from home, visiting family in the Sault, and the rash cleared up. When she came back to her Louis Street apartment, so did the rash.
Henshaw figured out the red bumps were a result of the little black creepy crawlies that have been making a comeback in cities across the country — bed bugs.
Since she first complained to her landlords — Sudbury Housing Corp. — in the fall, her unit has been sprayed four times to no avail.
On Wednesday, after Henshaw said she “caused a big hassle in there,” Sudbury Housing decided to move her, her fiancé Mike Cyr and six-month-old son Gage into a motel room.
“I had to sign a note today giving them permission to throw everything I have in the garbage,” Henshaw said.
The family even had to throw out the clothes on their backs, shower and change into new clothes provided by Sudbury Housing. The family was given a new crib and stroller, money for food and clothing and a motel room to stay in for a few weeks while apartment is treated for bed bugs.
“I’m satisfied so far,” Henshaw said of the response. “I’m just so scared that we’re going to go back there and they are going to come back.”
Henshaw’s body is covered in red bumps she said itch like mosquito bites. Her son spent the last two months sleeping in his stroller, because the mom was afraid to put him back in his crib.
Henshaw said she “freaked” when she found one of the bugs on his sheets. Then she took off the sheet and found dozens of the bugs crawling all over it.
“It was caked. I lifted up the mattress and they were all over,” she said.
Advertisement
The nuisance pests have recently been showing up everywhere from homeless shelters to five-star hotels, according to Health Canada. The federal health agency says insecticides such as DDT helped to keep the bed bug population at bay. With the increase of bait traps instead of broad-spectrum sprays, bed bugs are no longer being eliminated. Travel is also more common, giving bugs a chance to hop on to luggage or clothing.
Robert Sutherland, general manager of Sudbury Housing, said the bugs have started turning up in the last year.
“Prior to that, I’m not even sure if there had been any reported incidences,” he said.
Bed bugs turned up at a Sudbury Housing apartment building last summer.
“We had to have pest control go in and do the spraying in a block of units,” Sutherland said. “We were successful in getting it eradicated there.”
The bugs then turned up in Henshaw’s unit in the fall. They tried spraying, but it hasn’t worked.
“It’s a nuisance pest and they are very tenacious,” Sutherland said.
It’s very important that tenants co-operate with pest control.
“There are very detailed instructions that are given to the tenant by the pest control people,” he said. “We are really asking all the tenants to fully co-operate with the instructions that are given.”
Henshaw and her family are the only ones who were actually evacuated from the unit. Sudbury Housing will be spraying 18 units on Louis Street for bed bugs.
Burgess Hawkins, manager, environmental health division at Sudbury and District Health Unit, said a few bed bug complaints have come in to the health unit over the last year.
The health unit does inspect the premises if a complaint about a rental property is made.
“If it’s something very minor, then in a lot of cases we’ll just instruct the tenant on how to fix it up,” Hawkins said. “If it’s something that requires the landlord to come in, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Bed bugs are not noted for spreading disease, he said.
“We run a bit more of a problem on ordering someone to fix it because … we can’t write an order without a health case,” Hawkins said.
If the landlord is not willing to co-operate, the health unit would pass complaints on to bylaw officers. The city does have a bylaw stating landlords must keep their premises free of pests and insects. The health unit has never had to take that action for bed bugs, but have in the past with other issues such as mould.
It is difficult to deal with bed bugs because it can take eggs 10 days to hatch, Hawkins said.
“It normally will take multiple treatments,” Hawkins said.
The bugs can also travel through walls.
For more information about bed bugs from Health Canada, visit www.pmra-arla.gc.ca/english/consum/bed_bugs-e.html.
rpunch@thesudburystar.com
Comments
Leave a Reply
Bed Bugs
Copyright © 2007 bed-bug-bites.net • Using K Sniper inspired by Performancing's Modernpaper • SEO by Court's Internet Marketing School
|
