An exterminator for All-Rite says it is ok for her to return to her home.

“Really and truly there is not a lot of reason to move out to tell you the truth,” Charlie Asberry of All-Rite Pest Control explained.

“You run the risk of moving a problem from here to another unit,” Asberry said.

Demus has thrown out two couches and a mattress and plans to get rid of their clothes as a result of the infestation.

“Yes, he said I could come back in here, but honestly would you want to come back?” Demus said.

While the PCO is correct, it is hard not to empathize with the tenant. Who wouldn’t want to escape? In fact, if she leaves, without a human acting as “bait” to draw them across the poison to their deaths, the bed bugs are likely to hide out waiting for another source of food to move in, or to flee to neighboring units in search of food (or both).

Interestingly, these articles rarely mention the need for follow-up treatments spaced around two weeks apart–and necessary until no bed bug bites, bed bugs, or signs of bed bugs are found. They also almost never mention that all adjoining units (above, below, and all sides) must be carefully inspected by the PCO.

This article is no exception, leading one to hope All-Rite did inspect all the neighbors, and that they will be back in two weeks for more. Perhaps that part of the story does not make for interesting journalism, but it is important that the public become aware of these concerns, should they one day find themselves on the other end of a bed bug’s proboscis.

But the most interesting part of this article was that the local health department is asking people to call to report bed bugs:

If you live in an apartment complex and suspect there are bed bugs. You are urged to call the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department at (859) 231-9791

That, my bedbugged friends, is very good news, but not particularly new news. Lest we forget, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department was one of the first in the US, if not the first, to declare bed bugs a problem, over a year ago. There is probably more that the health department could do, however. For example, their brochure (available here) recommends washing bedding and clothing or throwing it away. Why suggest throwing away washable clothes and sheets? It also does not state clearly enough that mattresses and other furniture can usually be treated, and usually do not need to be thrown out. Or that throwing them out may lead to further spread in your building. (Perhaps we should say, here at Bedbugger.com,“Caveat dumpster”?)

• Bed bugs and the disabled
• bed bugs clear Port Jervis, NY Hospital’s mental health unit
• Bed bugs usually plague a city for a few weeks before being eradicated. Really, Waterbury Health Department?
• Bed bugs at Maryland’s Hashawha Environmental Center

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Bracken County schools will be closed Friday after a middle school student was found to have an infestation of bed bugs, and one of the bugs was found in a classroom.

Bracken County Schools Superintendent Tony Johnson said in a release Thursday that the health department was contacted after the discovery, and that the schools will be closed in order to perform pest control treatments in each school as a precaution.

NBC WLWT5.com says that the school is being closed today, but that Monday and Tuesday were already scheduled as days off. Still, this gives schools more time to do their work. WLWT also adds:

Health department officials will oversee measures intended to prevent the spread of bedbugs, and the student will receive treatment, officials said.

This is interesting: it does not say the child’s parents will be directed to get treatment. It implies they may be taking care of it.

The most interesting thing here is that they found one bed bug, in one school, but they are treating them all. Oh, and they’re talking about it. The New York City Department of Education could learn a thing or two from them about how to deal with bed bugs.

More than a year ago, one of the first posts on this blog suggested that Lexington, KY was taking bed bugs more seriously than New York City. The same could definitely now also be said of Bracken County.

But is Bracken County’s response too enthusiastic? Is this overkill?

• Warning to Bracken County, KY: don’t get caught in the bed bug blame game
• Rockford, IL: half of Red Roof Inn shut down due to bed bugs
• New York City public schools continue to be treated for bed bugs
• More on the New York City schools and bed bugs

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