Terry says, “A pest control program for bed bugs is very detailed. You’ve got to get all the crevices. We are doing a little more than we really need to, but it’s to make sure we don’t have a problem in the future.”

That means Terry’s son, Tony, has to bag contents of every locker in the school, and then spray those contents with an insecticide.

Tony and his mother are wearing only gloves now, but when the heavy fumigation gets underway, they’ll be wearing face masks, too.

I am interested in these methods, since I have not heard PCOs here talking about spraying into bags of belongings. Perhaps a PCO would tell us what this might be.

I initially thought it was a good thing that Bracken County Schools were taking bed bugs seriously after finding a bed bug in school, since cities like New York City are so slow to take action against similar situations. My initial positive sense was based on Bracken County’s willingness to treat schools for bed bugs. I thought that their treatment of every school in the district was based on a sense that bed bugs must be more widespread than in just this one school.

Now, however, I am becoming more concerned about the community’s response, especially their apparent obsession with pinpointing its source. It betrays a lack of education about bed bugs and their behavior, which appears to be a prevalent problem elsewhere too.

Parents in Brooksville are divided about the schools closing an extra day just for bed bugs.

Elizabeth Aulick, a mother of two Bracken County students says, “Yeah, it does concern me, but the letter I got said they only found one bug. If it’s one bug isolated to one child, keep him home for a few days.”

A mother of three Bracken County students, including one at the Middle School says, “I guess it’s a little unexpected. I never expected something like this, but I guess it’s a good thing. Just to be on the safe side. It didn’t both me, I said, ‘Well, that’s fine.’”

The school fumigation in Bracken County is getting the full support of the county health department there.

I am glad the health department in Bracken County recognizes bed bugs as a concern, since many don’t. However, I have to say that what’s being said about the child in this case is absurd.

People in Bracken County must not associate the schools’ bed bug issue, if they indeed have one, with this one student who may have had the bed bug on his things or on his clothing. Bed bugs can live and breed in schools or in school buses or public transportation, and they can crawl onto students at any of these locations (as well as many others). As we have taken pains to explain in the past, the presence of a bed bug on a person or their things absolutely does not prove the person brought the bed bug in.

All parents, including those of the child who was bitten by the bed bug, must search at home and have a qualified PCO inspect if anyone is complaining of bites or if they see any bed bugs or possible signs. However, it is crucial that parents and school officials realize that bed bugs are not lice, and do not live on people. They crawl on, feed, and run away. If a bed bug is found on a person in a school, it does not mean the person brought the bed bug to the school.

I would assume the Bracken County School officials know this, since they are treating every school, and not just the one the bed bug was found in. And yet it does not sound like the parents or media have been picking up on that fact.

If the child did indeed have had an infestation at home and brought them into the school, then his family, too, caught them from somewhere. They spread easily. And everyone should be alert. Everyone should be asking where this family might have picked up bed bugs: parents’ workplace? YMCA? School? Bus? Motel? Because where they got them, you can get them too.

However, the child should not be blamed, nor should he be kept home. People with active infestations need to take some steps to avoid spreading bed bugs. Treating the child himself as if he were contagious is an ignorant mistake.

• Schools in Bracken County, KY shut down due to bed bugs
• NYC Bedbuggers: time to have some local politicians over for a bite or two
• New York City public schools continue to be treated for bed bugs
• Spring break bed bug warnings!

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Having heard nothing since then, I was glad to see that yesterday the New York Observer (in their 10/23 online and 10/29 print edition) re-told the bed bugs at Cadwalader story, that the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.com law blog (housed in the same building as Cadwalader!) covered the Observer’s coverage. After all, the more people realize you can have bed bugs at work–even in very classy workplaces–the better.

The Observer’s David Lat also edits the online legal tabloid AbovetheLaw.com, where we picked up the original leaked-memo bed bug story. We missed this, but on October 3rd, Above the Law also covered a second report of bed bugs in the same offices, this time on the 20th floor:

It is believed that said bedbug infiltrated the premises through a delivery or box shipment. Perhaps it was hidden in a document production from opposing counsel?

While this is entirely possible, since bed bugs had previously been found in the same building, I would not be surprised if other locations in the building were infested. Maybe (gasp!) the blamed employee was fired for nothing. It is very difficult to locate blame for a bed bug infestation.

And remember, the original memo made this claim:

“A single treatment by an exterminator usually controls bed bugs and prevents reinfestation for several months.”

Perhaps one treatment was not enough.

In October, management was more careful to avoid the leaked-memo scenario:

Attorneys were notified of this breach in CWT’s bed bug security via email. We haven’t seen the email message, which we understand was protected against forwarding, printing, or copying.

Too bad. The first memo was fascinating.

• NYC office of Very Important International Law Firm has bed bugs
• Covington, Kentucky IRS building infested with bed bugs
• Harvard dorm treated for scabies–but what was it really? Also, bed bugs at Columbia?
• Another top NYC lawfirm gets bed bugs

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One woman is interviewed who used to work as a motel housekeeper; she started getting bitten at work, and she quit her job because of it.

“If I’m getting bit up like this, making me sick, I’m sure other people are too,” said Laquita Grimes.

I just hope she did not take them home from work with her. It’s tragic that she had to quit her job because of this. I wonder how many more people take bed bugs home from work, and are faced with the expense of eradication.

The motel where Grimes works tells 13News they have sprayed and that the problem is now under control, but the management admits bed bugs are a problem reputable hotels and motels across the country are dealing with now more than ever.

While I am glad the motel has treated for bed bugs, I am not reassured by being told “they have sprayed.” “Under control” might be enough for pests like cockroaches, but bed bugs need to be eliminated. While this is not permanently possible in a hotel or motel, where new bed bugs could arrive any day, managers of lodging establishments need to do more, on an ongoing basis.

I hope that they realize that regular treatment is necessary for bed bugs. The motel needs to clean extensively to remove bed bugs and their eggs, and treat aggressively, including follow-ups every 10-14 days by a PCO who knows bed bugs (not simply by motel staff). They also, in my opinion, need a bed bug protocol, which should include training staff to recognize signs of bed bugs, and maybe some kind of preventive treatment, since bed bugs will be brought in again and again.

Click the button to read the story or watch the video.

• Gaston County, N.C. health officials to hotel: bed bugs not a serious violation
• Hotel housekeeping staff offered $25 bounty per head on bed bugs
• Bed bugs at Hawai’i’s Halawa Correctional Facility
• Bed bug infestation at Middletown, Ohio homeless shelter

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In it, he describes the treatment, and repercussions meted out to the alleged source of the infestation.

Oh, and the Chairman also says they don’t have “an infestation.” Whatever that means.

The memo contains some strange claims, including assertions that:

a) “A single treatment by an exterminator usually controls bed bugs and prevents reinfestation for several months.”

Not so, assuming traditional methods (sprays, powders and the like), most cases require multiple treatments.

b) Treatments occurred on June 18th, again the next morning, and again a week later (based, apparently on additional bed bug sightings in the same area.

This is odd, since the memo also rightly admits it is normal to see some bed bugs after the first treatment. Why did they keep spraying before the expected 10-day follow-up?

c) “They do not show themselves during daylight hours, only at night in the dark.”

That’s not necessarily true.

d) “[Name of PCO firm] has said that it is very unlikely that these bugs could be transmitted to your home. However, for the next several days, please closely examine your clothing and any materials you take out of the office.”

it’s definitely possible you brought them home. And be vigilant for several months or more, since one or two bugs can establish themselves in time. You may not be allergic and so you may not feel bites; in such circumstances, you might not notice visible evidence of bed bugs for many, many months. Until they are everywhere and you are seeing them in the daytime.

e) “Note also that [name of PCO] has assured us that [name of law firm] does not have any infestation and will continue to proceed with an aggressive course of action to remedy the situation.”

Um, how many bed bugs do you think you have to have, to have an infestation?
Because I’d say you do have one.

f) Oddly enough, they think they know the original source of the bed bugs:

“During the course of the extermination, a box was identified as the source of the bugs and was immediately removed from the premises.”

Possible, but really? Can you be sure the bed bugs came from the box?

g) And finally, most distressingly, this statement:

“The individual who we believe brought the insects into the firm came forward on Tuesday, June 19, and is no longer associated with the firm.”

We don’t know the details. Assuming this employee was fired only for allegedly bringing bed bugs into the firm, and assuming this person did not intentionally or knowingly bring the bed bugs in, perhaps s/he has a good case for wrongful dismissal. I really, truly hope so. That would be a bed bug lawsuit I could get behind. Because even if the employee brought the bed bugs in, it is quite possible s/he did so unknowingly.

Oddly enough, it may take months for the other employees to get that. But when some of them unknowingly take bed bugs home, they will understand that the blame game does not work with bed bugs.

This is the first time I have heard of anyone being fired because of bed bugs. Things are starting to get really ugly.

• Covington, Kentucky IRS building infested with bed bugs
• Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft’s alleged bed bugs, part two
• Fox NY claims it became infested with bed bugs “a few weeks ago”; tipster tells Gawker they fired employee who brought them in
• Another top NYC lawfirm gets bed bugs

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