Carolyn Sistrunk, executive director of the Danbury Housing Authority, said Monday the complex had a problem with the bugs in 2007 and spent about $17,000 to get rid of them.

“They were here in the fall,” Alex Sixbey, one of the tenants at Ives Manor said Monday. “It took a lot of work — by the exterminators and by me — to get rid of them.”

But Sistrunk said the bedbugs returned. While last year’s outbreak was confined to Ives Manor’s fourth floor, they may have popped up elsewhere in the building.

“We’re going to treat the entire building,” she said.

It does not sound like the bed bugs were necessarily completely gone. While it’s possible they were and the building was reinfested, it is also possible that some units had bed bugs and the tenants were unaware and/or not reporting them.

Many times, visual inspections will turn up nothing, especially if there is a small infestation. In time, however, it would explain bed bugs springing back.

Carolyn Cutler, who has lived in city housing for about 20 years, moved to Ives Manor more than four years ago and lives on the fourth floor. Last fall, she said, the pests showed up in her apartment.

In recent weeks “I found one on my sheets,” she said. “I’m changing my sheets twice a day. I’ve never seen them before. I don’t want to put up with this.”

Sistrunk said Ives Manor hired Amtech, a local exterminating company that is getting increasing experience in fighting bedbugs, to do the work. The company has even purchased a beagle trained to sniff out bedbugs to help its staff find the vermin.

The initial contract for the work is about $9,000, Sistrunk said.

And with a sense of great foreboding, but no great sense of surprise, I present this PCO soundbite:

Richard Monastero, Amtech’s president, said Monday for the foreseeable future people should consider bedbugs an ongoing problem, not a one-time thing.

Ugh.

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Teresa Bayliss, who has lived in her third-floor apartment for nine years, said the residents have been battling with the insects for more than a year. “Basically, this apartment building, since last May, has had problems with bedbugs,” she said. “I would say since like Easter, things are getting worse.”

That’s far too long to suffer with bed bugs.

One resident took a dangerous and extreme measure:

The problem at the apartment building was so bad that a resident recently decided to take matters into his own hands. Following the advice of a friend, he burned charcoal in his third-floor apartment. But because of the fumes, the building had to be evacuated.

“We were upset, but if you saw the bites on that man, who could blame him?” said Bayliss.

The man got bad advice and did something very unsafe. Looking back, what would have been a safe and rational reaction, instead, is if someone from the building had notified city officials.

According to the article, Warren Blunt, director of environmental health for the city’s Health Department, said,

The department was not aware of the bedbug problem at Ellsworth before last week’s incident, he said.

When the agency does receive complaints, Blunt said, an inspector goes out to confirm that there are bedbugs in the building. “The owner is basically responsible for the establishment. The owner is responsible for hiring an exterminator,” Blunt said. “We allow them up to two weeks. But in this case, we would make a recommendation that they begin immediately,” he said. Criminal penalties may be pursued if a landlord does not act to remedy the problem, Blunt said.

So one lesson here is that residents of Bridgeport with bed bugs should call the Health Department to notify them of the problem, so they can inspect and order treatment. It’s unlikely that residents were aware of this recourse, or someone probably would have called. I hope the Health Department will attempt to advertise this more widely.

Some treatments have already occurred. So far,

Bayliss said the treatments do not appear to be helping. “They had Orkin [pest control company] coming in spurts. I’ve had Orkin come to my apartment once. Other people aren’t getting treated at all,” she said.

But the article says the management is currently ripping out everyone’s carpet and the building supervisor seems to be saying the whole building will have to be treated at least twice. (I would not be surprised if it took more than two treatments spaced no more than two weeks apart.) I hope this treatment is aggressive and thorough and comes swiftly for the tenants, who have suffered for such a long time.

Officials quoted in the article remind us that tenants have to cooperate with preparation and treatment:

The problem is more challenging when tenants are not able, or refuse, to keep their apartments clean and orderly. Bedbugs can travel on people’s clothing or find their way into the apartment next door.

“There are agencies that will offer to come out, that will do the cleaning,” said Blunt. But if people don’t cooperate with the pest eradication efforts, “that’s what makes this compounded, makes this complex.”

As odd as it may sound, we often hear of badly infested buildings where one or more tenants simply don’t want to be inspected. In cases such as this, where the whole building is being inspected, it would not be surprising if the same tenants were not cooperative with preparations or treatment.

This hurts everyone else — both fellow tenants and management.

Those with physical or financial limitations absolutely need help and support in preparing for and undergoing bed bug treatment. But refusing or being non-cooperative is a serious problem: keeping your bed bugs is not an option.

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The group was in town for a concert and had a music video to shoot that day. Several members had allergic reactions including swollen eyes. Some of the men caught several bed bug samples in a jar. Maybe they’ll call the health department?

The group says the hotel offered to refund them the cost of one room and give them a $100.

Comping a bed bug-infested room and paying out $100 when people happen to react to bed bug bites seems like it’s a lot cheaper than dealing with the problem.  Until someone sues.

I’m not the kind of gal that goes crazy for lawsuits, but you can see why some folks want to sue under such circumstances.  I really hope the band know about bed bugs and have taken steps to avoid taking them to their next destination.

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And all over Craigslist.

Craigslist reader BOB warned fellow Craigslisters (namely residents of Oakville and the Waterbury area) to beware:

re oakville

Reply to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-12-20, 11:07PM EST

Watch out for bed bugs. THey are spreading fast. They are all over waterbury and the reactions are too slow. Check out http://www.bedbugger.com Don’t pick up stray furniture or people. It spreads fast takes up to a year before people realize they have a problem then if they are a tenant it takes another 2 months to start treatments then people throw thier furniture on the street. ITs a spreading nightmare and of course nobody is talking but the exterminators are making a fortune. WHy because they are impossible to get rid of. THey crawl in holes. survive or even if they get them all you probably infected someone familiar to you who reinfects you. Oh and how many family things have you gone too when they take you jacket and throw it on a bed…with everone elses Merry christmas from waterbury….and happy itching f—ing new year….BOB

it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 515776675

I cleaned up a word. You can see the glorious original by clicking on the screenshot above (then choose “All Sizes” and then “Large”). The original was here and may still be.

We don’t know BOB, but we know why he’s angry.

• Bed Bugs and Christmas
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• only in Greenpoint: m. with bed bugs, 4 w. with “herpes”
• If this couch could talk…

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newyorkshitty.com » ‘Tis The Season: Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite!

miss heather of newyorkshitty.com shares a current photo of suspected bed bug refuse at the Astral Apartments in Greenpoint, and shares an article from exactly 121 years ago, decrying the need for “quality affordable housing”, free of vermin.

Glenwood Springs Post Independent - Valley News (Colorado)

“Tom Cornwell, president of the Colorado Pest Control Association, will be speaking to representatives from hotels and motels, … and public and housing personnel from 11 a.m. to noon Friday, Dec. 7.” Public education is the key to beating bed bugs.

Stamford, CT: The Advocate - Flooding and failing health leave residents seeking help (flood evacuees get bed bugs in hotel)

“During the spring nor’easter, a Stamford senior housing complex was flooded, and residents were forced to move to a hotel temporarily. Upon returning home, residents discovered their building was infested with bed bugs.”

Some Crazy Garbage: Away, ye critters

A blogger’s first-hand account of a Pest Control Operator’s visit. Yes, google alerts sends me multiple such posts a day from various “newbites” around the world. But this one was entertaining to read, even as it conveyed the tale of woe you have come to expect.

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• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Housing Authority vs. Bed Bugs
• Portland’s public housing and bed bugs

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Waterbury, Connecticut has had a recent bed bug outbreak in a number of locations. Last week, we were told in the Republican-American online of these locations with bed bug infestations, which had been reported to the Health Dept.:

553 South Main St. (two apartments in a multi-unit building; all the rest of the following had at least one infested apartment in a multi-unit building):
42 Pine St. (the Wilby Apartments),
107 South Leonard St.,
182 West Main St.,
148 Grand St. (where the entire building was declared infested back in April), and
995 Bank St.
Also: the Salvation Army shelter.

A news report by Eric Parker of Eyewitness News 3 on Friday said that this week, two more apartment buildings were added to the list of bed bug infestations reported to the Waterbury Health Department: the Enterprise Apartments at 13 Cherry Ave., and an unnamed building “near Waterbury Green” (the Waterbury Republican named this as “two apartments at Plaza on the Green… 2 North Main Street”).

Let’s be completely realistic: these buildings that the Waterbury Health Department has been made aware of are likely just the tip of the iceberg. Single family homeowners, condo owners, hotels, and other businesses are unlikely to report their infestations. So are landlords of multi-unit buildings, and fearful tenants who may be wary of reporting their landlord.

Eyewitness News 3’s Eric Parker tells us,

The reports are spreading, and that has people at the Enterprise Apts worried.

The Health Department is not surprised that reports keep appearing. Parker reports (note, I transcribed his actual video report, since the transcription on the website differed from it):

Officials at the Health Dept say that when they get a few reports of bed bugs, they expect a few more. Because people who have the bed bugs at their house will travel around, and that spreads it. So they usually have several weeks of reports before they can finally kick the bed bugs for good.

Cookie Rosado, of the Enterprise Apartments was planning to move because of her bed bug infestation. Eyewitness News 3 just told us bed bugs were spread via people; why not reiterate here how easily bed bugs can be moved from one location to another, and how likely it is Cookie Rosado’s new building, too, will become infested.

The Health Department, Parker tells us, is going to “continue to follow the bed bugs as more reports come in.”

Cool! So are we, Health Department. The only difference is, we are a media outlet (yes, I know, it is a grandiose term for a blog. But we are trying to spread the bed bug news and information as best we can). You, however, are the Waterbury Health Department. You need to do more than assume that after a few weeks of reports in various locations, that your town will be able to “kick the bed bugs for good.”

It is true that bed bugs in one space (say a single apartment) can be gotten rid of in a few weeks. But we also know that most people do not recognize the problem right away. And then few people recognize it at all: it is commonplace for some residents in a building to report an infestation while others will have no idea. If they are not allergic, it may take ages to see the signs. Still others are fearful and simply live with or try to self-treat the problem. So while a small, isolated infestation can theoretically be gotten rid of in a few weeks, in most cases, the problem will continue spreading to others.

So not only will a few more weeks uncover many more infestations, most of them likely to be unreported to the Health Dept. You’re also likely to find that many of these cases drag on for months (or even years) because there’s one or two tenants reporting a problem, and several neighbors who have it but have no idea and so are not treated. That reason alone makes treating bed bugs in multi-unit buildings really difficult.

I can only hope that journalist Eric Parker misunderstood the Health Department officials’ line on bed bugs. Because Waterbury only needs to read some of the bed bug news from other cities in order to see that, yes, bed bugs will continue to spread. But they won’t be eliminated in time. They will only get worse and spread further. Unless drastic steps are taken by the city to halt their spread, and educate people about the problem.

What’s displayed in this report is either ignorance of the true nature and likely scope of the bed bug epidemic in Waterbury, or a fear of disclosing the truth to residents.
Either way, it’s a shame.

You can catch Eric Parker’s segment here.

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• DIY public education campaign

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The health department also received complaints of infestations of two apartments at 553 South Main St., and one apartment each in apartment buildings or multifamily homes at 42 Pine St. (the Wilby Apartments), 107 South Leonard St., 182 West Main St., 148 Grand St. and 995 Bank St.

Also, there is a report of bedbugs in the Salvation Army shelter. A complaint received in April resulted in a notice of infestation in the entire building at 148 Grand St. The owner hired an exterminator to take care of the problem.

In most cases, the Health Department ordered property owners to take care of the problem by hiring a licensed PCO.

Meanwhile, in Boston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology student residents of Ashdown House, which has been under attack by bed bugs since last spring, are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Danielle Piskorz reported Friday for MIT’s The Tech newspaper:

A bedbug problem that has been plaguing Ashdown since last spring is close to being resolved. An exterminator contracted to MIT has been visiting rooms several times a week over the course of the summer, and sticky-trap style bug monitors newly installed in each room show no sign of new activity.

I hope that this testing has been done since students have been resident in the rooms. We do know that bed bugs living in rooms or apartments that have been vacated will often move to another location (if humans are sleeping elsewhere in the vicinity, say a neighboring room or another floor). We are also told they may go “dormant,” hiding out until people return. Killing bed bugs is hard when no one is in residence, since they need to be attracted out to bite someone in order to cross the poison and/or mechanical killer and die.

How did MIT deal with Ashdown’s bed bugs? Fairly persistently, from the sound of things:

In Ashdown, the residents of the infested suites were required to have their rooms and clothes cleaned entirely to rid the area of bugs. They were also given new mattresses with covers to prevent the bedbugs from finding a new place to live. The contracted exterminator used “a clear, odorless, safe treatment” to kill the bedbugs, according to an e-mail sent to Ashdown residents from Denise Lanfranchi, Ashdown’s house manager.

According to Bajpayee, exterminating procedures ran in cycles, with the first spraying killing the adults and the second killing their offspring. A problem arose when the original floor was sprayed for bedbugs and the surviving insects ran up to the next. The total number of rooms affected was eight or nine, said Bajpayee. Ashdown has a total of 264 rooms.

To reduce the probabilities of bedbug problems in the future, MIT Housing may consider banning students from bringing used furniture into the dorms, Collins said. Until then, students should “be conscious of who and where they are buying [their used furniture] from.”

“Everybody should be careful,” Bajpayee said.

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Housing Authority director Jimmy Miller quipped,

“It’s not something that would go unnoticed. You do get bites from them,” he said.

Well, actually, Jimmy, if your PCO knew his stuff, he’d tell you that many, many people (some professionals even claim it’s most) are not allergic, and so do not react to bed bug bites. I would bet actual cash that more than 15 of your units are infested– for in addition to the non-allergic, there are always also the non-reporters. And who’d blame them, after all, since your office rushed to blame the poor cat lady, with no explanation of how you can prove which unit was ground zero?

Angela Carter of the New Haven Register updated readers on the saga on Friday. residents of 13 of the infested 15 units are back home, after their hotel stay. The other two units’ occupants have been moved to new units and still have bed bugs.

The housing authority has provided Witherspoon and the other affected tenants with new beds and bed linens, pillows and lamps. “They’re supposed to give us sofas, too,” she said.

Housing Authority Executive Director Jimmy Miller said about $15,000 has been spend fighting off the stubborn pests. “These little critters are hiding in the chases,” he said. “We did a second application this week of a pesticide. There will be one more application later on.”

I am glad treatment is persisting and that Miller knows the bed bugs may be hidden in the building itself. However, people fighting bed bugs should not say things like “there will be one more treatment.” Those who know bed bugs know that you must treat every two weeks until all bed bugs and signs of bed bugs are gone. That means never assuming how many treatments will be required, and never letting residents off their guard. Those not highly allergic might not notice a bed bug or two remaining, and then in time, they will have a full-blown infestation again.

I hope the new mattresses and pillows were encased with bed bug-proof coverings, so that bed bugs would not easily hide in them.

Meanwhile, Carter updated us on the other New Haven public housing bed bugs case at the Essex Houses.

The housing authority also had to exterminate two units at Essex Townhouses off Quinnipiac Avenue in Fair Haven three times.

Officials were unsure why the infestations were occurring repeatedly at Essex Townhouses but Chief Operations Officer Karen DuBois-Walton said units would be treated until the problem clears.

DuBois-Walton has exactly the right idea about persistent treatment. (Every two weeks, mind you!)

But why are bed bug infestations occurring repeatedly? It’s likely that:

a) Some tenants have bed bugs and either are not allergic and so do not notice bed bugs, or (in rare cases) notice but do not care or fear the consequences of reporting them. If some units harbor bed bugs, the problem will continue; and / or

b) The bed bugs are hiding out in walls or pipe chases or other parts of the building, and coming back; and / or

c) Wherever your tenants or employees got bed bugs, and tracked them in, they are still getting them and bringing them in. This is a real problem for all kinds of people. You need to really examine your life and the patterns of when bed bugs are (re)introduced. It’s hard to pinpoint.

Does anyone in your life have a bed bug problem? (They –and you– may have no idea. You can still catch them.)

Could they be at work? Exclusive designers’ offices, law firms, hospitals, social service agencies, homeless shelters, have all been infested. No line of work is “above” this. Again, you may have no idea if you are not highly allergic. If you are allergic, and now have them at home, you may not realize work is the source.

Are local stores now infested? (When people purchase and return things, this is possible.)

The questions are frightening, and the answers lead us back to the need for a larger approach than each building trying to stamp out bed bugs that tenants report.

Instead, we need to think big. That means we need public education, we need standards of treatment to be established, we need government to track locations and duration of infestations, and we need financial assistance to individuals and to landlords to help get rid of bed bugs.

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• Bed bugs bite in White Plains, NY public housing
• Indianapolis Housing Authority vs. Bed Bugs

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Erica Shaw, Orkin customer service representative, said the problem should not be taken lightly.

“It’s a serious problem,” Shaw said. “They are not the easiest to get rid of. If one tenant has it in their apartment, they risk the chance of wasting their money because they come back again. They should fumigate the apartment complex. It can get worse if not treated.”

Bed bugs are increasingly becoming a problem, she said, adding that they are everywhere, from hotels to cruise ships, dormitories, shelters and apartments.

[Tenants] The Langlaises say they have spent thousands of dollars on three sprayings through Orkin. The apartment complex didn’t offer to pay, they said.
The Langlaises have been posting fliers on the doors of other tenants of the complex to notify them of problem. On Thursday, as the Langlaises put up the fliers, the maintenance man tore them down, denying the infestation exists.

“Some people might not even know, the only way they would know is if they get really a bad infestation,” Gerald Langlais said.
Shaw agrees.
“Even if you spray one apartment, [bed bugs] could travel through the walls and go into another apartment and come back,” Shaw said.

The Langlaises have the right idea about trying to organize fellow tenants, something we often suggest here at Bedbugger, in cases where others in the building are (or are likely) infested, and landlords are not taking care of things.

As we suggest in the FAQ on organizing tenants, the Langlaises should put notices under the doors of neighbors, if possible, since landlords who don’t care enough about their tenants to get rid of bed bugs properly, are probably also not going to enjoy seeing them organize themselvs and inform one another.

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• Bridgeport, Connecticut tenants have had bed bugs more than a year

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“I lost my 2-beds, lost most of my clothes, lost my shoes,” said Kathyrn.

The New Haven Housing Authority exterminated her apartment over the weekend after an entire wing of the Essex Townhouses on Quinnipiac Avenue became infested with the creepy critters.

The City has replaced Kathyrn’s beds and 2-sofas, but she says it is the second time in 2-years that she’s had some unwelcome house guests.

“It makes me nervous and I can’t take this stress,” said Kathyrn.

The 73-year old escaped this infestation without getting bit, but her daughter was not so lucky.

“It was bad, very bad. It was red,” said Kathyrn Yukness.

Yukness says last week her arms were unrecognizable before she sought treatment at the hospital.

It’s worth noting that Abreu may well have been bit, since the infestation spanned an entire wing of townhouses, and so it was not likely localized in Yukness’s room. You can be bit and not react to the bites with marks or itching.

• New Haven housing officials confused: why can’t they get rid of these bed bugs?
• Share your Tales of Bed Bug Woe
• more on bed bugs in New Haven: they’re only using steam cleaning?!?
• bed bugs at University of Bridgeport

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