As if falling and not being found for nearly a week was not enough of a horror story,
this news article in the Sun focuses on the bed bug-infested state of her room.

EMS paramedics who responded were required to wear full-body suits to prevent contamination when they removed her from her room in the Baxter Hotel, a single-room occupancy hotel at 160 Beach 116th St.

It is highly likely that other units in the building are also infested.

[Building Superintendent Shawn] Reeder said he had not heard complaints of other infestations in the building. The owner of the building did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

I hope that Ms. Kenny is feeling better soon.

And I hope the Baxter Hotel gets a careful inspection–room by room. And careful treatment where needed. Bed bugs can happen anywhere, to anyone, of any age, but no one should have to live with them.

• 80% of Single Room Occupancy units in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are infested with bed bugs; also Rensselaer Polytechnic’s dorms
• Virginia Beach hotel sued over alleged bed bug attack
• 25% of hotel rooms have bed bugs? I don’t think so.
• Nashua, NH Health Officers on prowl for bed bugs

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Richard Jebb of Nashua, New Hampshire, is suing his rooming-house, having had nine treatments in his room and still suffering from bed bugs, according to the Nashua Telegraph.

 On Tuesday, Jebb took his bug problem to Nashua District Court, suing his landlord, Mark Flint, and the owners of the building, 23-25 Temple Street Realty LLC, for interrupting the “quiet enjoyment” of his property by not eradicating the problem in a timely fashion.

The company faces a $1,000 a day penalty for every day of the violation, about $240,000 if it is proven the company was in violation of the law in June.

Sixteen units inspected showed signs of bed bugs earlier this month.

The bugs only come out at night, he said, remarking that tenants in the building talk about seeing the bugs on their television screens late at night, something he said he recently experienced.

It’s not uncommon, especially in SROs, rooming houses, and other low-income housing, that tenants are afraid to (or don’t know how to) demand help with the problem.

Although many tenants in the building are suffering with the problem, Jebb said not all of them are willing to speak up about it.

Thank goodness Jebb was willing to go to bat:

It is partly for the “little guy” that Jebb said he decided to put his rent money in escrow and fight the issue in court.

“If that’s what it takes to get this building under control for all these people.”

• Nashua, N.H. laws may change in part based on recent bed bug cases there
• Still more from Nashua, New Hampshire: fewer bed bugs at 23-25 Temple St.
• Nashua, NH Health Officers on prowl for bed bugs
• More bad news about Denver’s bed bug-infested Halcyon House

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The inspection was prompted by tenants’ complaints to the health department. However, Ortega expected to–and found–that many more units were infested than the number of people who complained.

Complaints about bugs at 23-25 Temple St. prompted the inspection, Ortega said.

Given the tenant complaints his office received, Ortega said he expected the infestation to be even more widespread than what inspectors found.

“Sixteen is still a significant number,” Ortega said. “If they don’t hurry up and deal with it, it’s going to keep growing.”

He added, “the minute we left, they should be calling the pest companies.”

The building’s owner, 23-25 Temple Street Realty LLC, is expected to have exterminators come in as soon as possible, Ortega said. They’re required to spray not only the infected rooms, but also the adjacent rooms and the rooms directly above and below, he said.

Because the 16 rooms were scattered throughout, most of the building will have to be treated, Ortega said.

The owners also have 35 days to correct general maintenance violations, which range from the illegal use of extension cords and hotplates to unsanitary toilets and covers missing on wall outlets, Ortega said.

Health officials will do a follow-up inspection after the building owner has had time to spray for pests and correct the violations, he said.

I wish that all health officials were as wise to bed bugs, and as proactive as these.

I also wish every building owner (whether it’s a hotel, apartment building, rooming house, or whatever) would read this. All too often, people try to get away with treating only the units of people who notice and complain about bed bugs. And in such cases, they will often find bed bugs popping up again and again.

I am also glad to see this because it shows a case where people with bed bugs called a health department and got some action. Readers often tell us their landlords are not dealing with bed bugs, and they don’t know what to do. Or if their landlord is helping them, the problem is still hard to treat.

Well, even though your city health officer may not be as clued in about bed bugs as Nelson Ortega is, why not give them a call?

Cities and counties do not realize how many people have bed bugs unless you tell them. So please, consider googling your city or county health department and giving them a buzz.

And a reminder to tenants, landlords, and government officials alike, anywhere: take a hint from Nashua Deputy Health Officer Heidi Peek, who is quoted in the article as saying:

“The reason I really wanted to get in there, I had a hunch there were people who weren’t reporting (bedbugs) – which we found to be true.”

At least 50% of people bitten by bed bugs do not react to the bites, according to Michael Potter.

Many of these will have no idea they have them.

Many more will know they have them but fear being blamed and not report it.

Still others will simply put up with the situation (unbelieveable, yes, but we hear it time and again).

Do not assume people are bed bug-free simply because they say they are.

And certainly do not assume they are bed bug-free simply because they do not call a city information hotline.

Especially if calling a city information hotline is the least intuitive thing for them to do, as in the case of NYC tenants with bed bugs. Do you hear that, New York City HPD? If you want people in NYC to call a number to tell you they have bed bugs. You have to tell them to do it.

• More bed bugs in Nashua, NH: rooming-house tenant goes to court
• Nashua, N.H. laws may change in part based on recent bed bug cases there
• Still more from Nashua, New Hampshire: fewer bed bugs at 23-25 Temple St.
• Lexington, KY vs. New York, NY: a tale of two bedbugged cities

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O’Farrell St., between Hyde and Leavonworth, San Francisco

Some exciting things are happening in California, and have been for some time. Since we’ve been giving a lot of love to Cincinnati lately, I wanted to fill you in on the California scene.

First, Bedbuggers should know have a friend in California: Dr. Laura Krueger. She’s the Associate Public Health Biologist in the Vector-Borne Disease Section of the California Dept. of Public Health. Laura has commented here a number of times, and has been reading the site for a while. She co-wrote the Guidelines for the Control and Prevention of Bed Bug Infestations in California (February 2007) (click here for a PDF). The California Bed Bug Guidelines were based, in turn, on other similar documents. A footnote tells us: “CDHS adapted these guidelines for bed bug control from the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association.” (Click here for a PDF of the 2nd edition of the Australian Guidelines (June 2007; California based their guidelines on the first edition); the San Francisco Guidelines link is currently down.

The California Bed Bug Guidelines are just that: suggestions, a good plan, for how PCOs, and owners of hotels and multi-unit dwellings should work to prevent and control bed bugs. The Guidelines are not enforceable in and of themselves.

As an example, the Guidelines suggest that PCOs should come a minimum of three times, spaced two weeks apart; that hotel or apartment managers should respond to complaints of bed bugs within 48 hours with a plan of action (and that the plan of action should be executed within 72 hours of the complaint being made); and that tenants should should not remove anything from the infested room until the PCO comes and directs them.

I would argue that some aspects of the guidelines need to be revised. For example, one guideline states that tenants should report bed bugs to the owner or operator “within 24 hours of the pest sighting”. This seems like good advice, but many people are bitten by bed bugs for a long time without actually seeing a pest. PCOs and other professionals are still learning how very stealthy bed bugs can be.

Nevertheless, the Guidelines are impressive and I am grateful that the California Department of Health Services has compiled them.

There have also been some recent positive developments in California in terms of government funding to help those with bed bugs fight the problem. In San Francisco, as the second item down on this page of the Central City SRO Collaborative (CCSRO) website states,

The Central City SRO Collaborative organized with tenants and other community groups to demand funding for subsidies for low-income tenants. At the urging of this activist group, [City of San Francisco] Supervisor Chris Daly got $63,000 in this year’s budget for subsidized laundry and freezing services for low-income tenants with bedbug infestations, a huge public education campaign for tenants and landlords, and 2 annual forums–one for landlords/tenants and one for social service workers/tenants–that will teach public health code, bedbug cleanup, and tenant advocacy.

Let’s pause a moment and reflect on the historical context of this: the hearing happened three months before NYC held its city council hearing on the resale of mattresses (one which has not yet borne fruit), and a good 16 months before Cincinnati’s recent fabled town hall meeting on bed bugs.

This is a wonderful example of how a tenants activist group (CCSRO) helped pressure the city to take action and provide funding for bed bug remediation and public education campaigns. Of special note is that this funding covers assistance to tenants who cannot afford laundry and “freezing services” (love to hear more about where that’s done!) as part of treating their posessions.

And we have also learned that in San Francisco, the Department of Aging and Adult Services (part of Adult Protective Services) can assist, in some cases, with preparation for bed bug treatment for elderly people who have trouble doing this for themselves.

This is something that is much needed, and I hope the provision of such assistance–for elderly people and those with mobility issues–will increase here and everywhere else.

• Toronto Public Health now has a Bed Bug Action Committee. Action, people.
• New York vs. Bed Bugs: NYC is the underdog!
• Brown student wants to provide free bed bug treatment to those who can’t pay
• Toronto Board of Health gearing up to fight bed bugs

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