The Hazleton, Pennsylvania school district went bed bug-wild on Wednesday, after a single student apparently discovered a single bed bug bite after a sleepover, according to the Standard Speaker.

The discovery of a child with a bedbug bite at the Valley Elementary Middle School on Tuesday led exterminators to search five schools on Veterans Day to make sure there was no infestation before classes resumed Thursday.

School administrators checked with the family of the student who was bitten and found that she had attended a sleepover. Her family and the family that hosted the sleepover have a total of six children who attend five schools: Valley, Hazleton Area High School, the Ninth Grade Center, the Hazleton Area Career Center and Heights-Terrace Elementary/Middle School.

Not only did the pest control company search the well-trod paths those six students normally moved along, checking their classrooms, buses, and lockers they all used, but

As a precaution, technicians sprayed a mix of five chemicals in the areas where the students traveled. Temborski said the chemicals don’t harm people and dry in two to four hours, so the closing of school for Veterans Day provided an ideal time to work.

In addition, the two families involved (the girl’s family and the sleepover host’s family) had their homes professionally treated for bed bugs by All ‘Bout Critters Pest Control, the same company contracted to do the work in the schools:

The two families hired ABC Pest Control to exterminate the bedbugs in their homes, and their children won’t return to school until the work is done. Temborski said treating bedbugs takes at least two treatments given two days apart.

There may be much more to the story than is included in this article. ABC said they “found nothing” in the school.

However, it is not clear from the article whether any evidence of bed bugs was found in the homes, or how anyone knew it was a bed bug that left a mark on the little girl in question.

As much as I lament the ridiculous approach to bed bugs in New York City Schools, where busy teachers are apparently expected to trap a sample bed bug and ship it away before anyone will even look into a potential bed bug problem in classrooms, it seems possible that this school district’s response was overkill.

On the other hand, here in NYC, it’s illegal to treat for bed bugs unless you have proof of their presence; I am not sure of the laws in Pennsylvania or the local area surrounding the Hazelton, PA School District.Similar Posts:

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The Ohio Department of Agriculture has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an emergency exemption to allow the use of the pesticide Propoxur in residences; more than a dozen additional states are supporting this request, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

The pesticide is currently in use for crops, on flea/tick collars, and in commercial applications.  This would simply be an emergency extension of its use inside residences.

Why Propoxur?

As Doug Caruso reports for The Columbus Dispatch,

In tests at the University of Kentucky, the chemical killed 100 percent of the bedbugs exposed to it within 24 hours and kept on killing after eggs hatched, Beal said. That compared with a 16 percent kill rate after 72 hours for a commonly used household insecticide against one strain found in Cincinnati, and 40 percent in another strain.

Make no mistake: while safety to humans and pets is an important factor when decisions are made about which pesticides are legal for which use, political and financial interests do factor heavily.  The Columbus Dispatch notes,

Introduced in 1959, Propoxur was removed from home use in the 1990s under a law that sought to reduce people’s exposure to insecticides. When manufacturers decided which uses to allow, [Matt Beal, assistant chief at the Ohio Department of Agriculture] said, they kept the chemical for application to crops and commercial buildings because they sold more of it for those purposes.

[Emphasis mine.]

It will be interesting to see if the exemption is granted, and whether this helps us in our battle against the red menace.

Update (11/12):

Is it just me or is the New York Times trying to put a spin on this issue with their headline,

“Ohio Wants to Use Industrial Poison on Bedbugs at Home.”

[Emphasis mine.]

Eek! Industrial poison! Oh no!

(Meanwhile, the people with bed bugs are saying, “yes, please!”)
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Parakeets helpfully recommends this upcoming bed bug educational event being run by Mass Housing on 11/17 in the Boston area. She tells us it costs $40, and directs you to the full information (and registration details) in this PDF.

Bed Bugs: A Team Response

An infestation of bed bugs can be very costly in terms of treatment and the impact on your housing community. Find out what you should know about bed bugs and how the Property Manager, Maintenance Supervisor and Resident Services Coordinator can work together as a team immediately and effectively. Learn the steps to take when an infestation of bed bugs is suspected, how to engage a pest management company and prepare for extermination. Gain an understanding of the roles of manager, maintenance staff and residents when addressing the issues.

Instructors: Jonathan Boyar, Watch All Pest Management and Thomas A. Stokes, Beacon Communities

Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 8:45am-1:00pm
Location: The Pines, 469 Pine Grove Drive, Brockton
Parking: Street parking or in visitor spots in lot.

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Some Louisville tenants are trying to get their landlord’s attention, claiming their apartment building has many problems, including bed bugs. They’ve gotten 50 people from their building to sign a petition against the landlord.

A photo included in this story from WHAS 11 news shows tenants hanging a banner in their window prominently proclaiming, “these apartments have bugs!!!”

(Note: we’re not sure of the legal ramifications of hanging such a sign in your window.  Another recent victim of bed bugs in San Francisco used the discarded furniture note as another means of warning passers-by.)

WHAS 11 in Louisville reports that

WHAS11 first told you about the issue Sunday when Jesse and Jaqueline Evans hung a sign outside their home saying “this apartment complex has bugs.”

Since then, they’ve been busy collecting signatures from other residents reporting problems.

By Monday afternoon, that list grew to more than four dozen names.

Another recent article on bed bugs in Louisville, from WAVE 3, says that if you have bed bugs in Louisville,

For the most part, it’s the property owner’s responsibility to get rid of them, if there’s an infestation in multiple units. If your landlord won’t, you can report it to 311.

WHAS 11 notes some tenants had already had a visit from the housing inspectors:

Upstairs, in a nearby unit, Zachary Costantino says he’s also had problems with bugs.

He says when he tried to shampoo them out of his carpet, blue dye from the carpet got sucked up.

In another nearby apartment, Jesse says there’s black mold and a potentially dangerous wiring issue.

WHAS11 saw an I.P.L. inspector at the complex when we were there Monday.

Three weeks ago, the same inspector confirmed a pest infestation and other problems the apartment complex only has a week left to fix.

It’s worth noting that the tenants claim the building has problems with mice, bed bugs, and roaches (and let’s not forget mold); the petition in the WHAS 11 video embedded above shows different tenants have differing complaints — it is not clear how many are complaining specifically about bed bugs.

That the article and the I.P.L. inspector’s report refer to “bugs” and “pests,” rather than to specific pests, is not very helpful.  The sign, too, says “bugs” but it’s clear from the articles and video that the Evans are referring to bed bugs.

Zachary Constantino implies to reporters that he thinks the landlord dyed his carpet dark to hide bed bugs (presumably to hide bed bug fecal stains).

As the first article notes, the Evans and their property management company are are scheduled to go to court.Similar Posts:

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Wicked Local Cambridge (Massachusetts) reports the following in a brief recap of  last night’s Cambridge City Council meeting:

Councilors voted to look further into bedbug extermination protocol and ways make the associated costs for residents more affordable.

I had some trouble with this video of the meeting, but the relevant part is item five and begins about 2:16.

(This is a paraphrased account of what I heard): the Cambridge City Council asks the Public Health Department to work with Cambridge Housing Authority and other agencies to address the bed bug problem.

Councillor Craig Kelley speaks briefly but eloquently, suggesting the city needs a one-stop place to go to find out about bed bugs, and an education program so people will learn (for example) not to pick up discarded furniture. According to Kelley, the problem is partly one of various agencies not knowing what to do, what best practices are.

(Again, that’s a rough paraphrase of what I could catch. My computer did not like the video format.)

These are problems that sound very familiar to me and will probably sound familiar to others in New York and elsewhere.

We look forward to hearing more about Cambridge’s attempts to do more about bed bugs.

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Entomologist Dr. Changlu Wang will be speaking at an educational session on bed bugs in Philadelphia next week:

Bed bugs are becoming an emerging public health issue after years of relative invisibility. . . To help address this growing problem, the Philadelphia School and Community IPM Partnership will be hosting an educational session on bed bugs Wednesday 10/21/09 from 2 – 3 p.m. at the School District of Philadelphia at 440 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia with bed bug expert Changlu Wang, Rutgers University.

. . . Dr. Changlu Wang, assistant extension specialist and urban entomologist at Rutgers University, will discuss recent research findings on bed bugs, resident surveys, effectiveness of various monitoring methods, and a step-by-step approach of conducting a successful bed bug integrated pest management IPM program. An IPM approach involves tactics that are safe and environmentally compatible, including preventive measures, sanitation, and chemicals applied to targeted sites.

. . . Dr. Wang’s education session will follow the Philadelphia School and Community IPM Partnership’s sixth annual meeting taking place 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to update partners on the progress of the group’s various projects, discuss pest control and pesticide issues, and brainstorm future needed activities and funding sources.  To RSVP to the meeting, education session, or both, contact Michelle Niedermeier, PSCIP coordinator, at the Philadelphia IPM office, 215 471-2200, ext. 109, or e-mail pscip@psu.edu.

. . . The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and urban settings. For more information, contact the program at 814 865-2839, [or check out their web site].

[Emphasis mine.]

The rest of the announcement from the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.Similar Posts:

• Interview with Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann over at New York vs. Bed bugs

Cincinnati.com reports that fourteen people living in a Hamilton County, Ohio apartment building were displaced overnight by a fire caused by someone spraying alcohol-based pesticides while smoking:

Fire investigators have determined the blaze was started by a resident spraying for bed bugs while smoking, said Capt. Steve Conn, spokesman for the Colerain Township Fire Department.

“They were spraying for bed bugs, and it had alcohol in it,” Conn said. “One of the residents lit up a cigarette, and it basically flashed and started the room on fire.”

[Emphasis mine.]

This is very dangerous, obviously, and it is a good thing no one was seriously injured, and that most of the residents have been able to return home.

This Hamilton County Public Health document (click for PDF) reminds residents who rent that

If you rent a home or apartment within Hamilton County (excluding cities of Cincinnati, Norwood, Sharonville or Springdale) and you think you have bed bugs, please contact the Hamilton County General Health District at (513) 946-7832. Health District sanitarians will work with your landlord to eliminate the problem.

Self-treating for bed bugs is often ineffective and can be dangerous, as this story reminds us.  And this is not the first fire caused by attempts to get rid of bed bugs.

People in Hamilton County have other options for bed bug treatment; what about tenants and low-income homeowners living elsewhere who don’t?Similar Posts:

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Remember the 160-unit Hacienda high rise in Richmond, California?

We suggested last month that one bed bug spray treatment probably would not be enough to get rid of bed bugs in this affordable housing complex.  And sadly, we were right.

The backstory on this is that tenants council complained to the city about bed bugs in April and were given piecemeal treatment of “a handful of units” back in May; the management said it knew of 11 units infested with bed bugs, even though 63 tenants had signed a petition asking the city to get rid of bed bugs.

Finally, in the last month, the city came through with a plan and funding to get the entire building tented and fumigated — with what, we do not know.  The article says “A large tent is scheduled to be cast over the 160-unit Hacienda high-rise Friday morning, and crews will spray the building with a pesticide.”

The Contra Costa Times reports that

Tenants begged the city to tent and fumigate the building rather than spray individual apartments, as it did in May, to ensure the pests are killed for good. The Housing Authority agreed and moved ahead with the plan.”Once they got started, they really haven’t wasted any time getting on top of it,” said Dolores Johnson, president of the tenants council.

The Housing Authority is tallying up expenses and doesn’t know what the final price tag will be, [Manuel Rosario, deputy director of the city Housing Authority] said, but booking the hotel rooms for tenants to stay several days will cost more than $60,000. Each family also is receiving a per diem for food. The amount varies, but can run in the hundreds of dollars per unit.

That $60,000 price tag only covers the hotel stay for tenants!

The article notes that some units are infested with fleas and others with bed bugs.

Interestingly, the move-out plan included having residents’ dogs and cats bathed upon evacuation:

In the rear parking lot, pet owners handed their dogs and cats over to groomers waiting in a mobile pet-grooming van. Candace Kidd, lead dog stylist for Aussie Pet Mobile in Marin County, used a plant-based product to wash the animals. Groomers found at least one dog with bedbugs hidden in its fur.

“They (bedbugs) are very similar to fleas,” said Dave Ely, owner of Aussie Pet Mobile. “They’re a bloodsucking insect. They get on you, and at night, they munch on you.”

I hope the plan goes well, and that tenants are educated about how not to take bed bugs to other places (like hotels or family members’ homes), and that tenants and staff are also educated about how to avoid bringing bed bugs into the building again in future.Similar Posts:

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The Denver Public Library’s book return drop box was infested with bed bugs, apparently by a single heavy user of the library’s services.  CBS4 in Denver reported that

Library workers handling the books left in the drop box noticed the bugs first.

“When we were returning those materials back in to get them off of his card, some of the bugs fell out,” said Celeste Jackson.

The books were not your typical popular fiction. They are described as volumes of rare classic literature. The books are not the property of the Denver Public Library. They’re part of the inter-library loan system. Those books have been fumigated and the library quarantined.

The library said the customer was aware of the problem.

“We said, sir we think you may have a problem and we’re trying to keep this from becoming … something that really is throughout the library system,” Jackson said.

Jackson said after the man was informed he returned more books with bedbugs.

[Emphasis mine.]

He knew he had bed bugs, he knew he was transmitting them to the library, and he continued doing so.

The infested books could have been rendered bed bug-free, but their pages were stained so heavily by bed bug droppings that they had to be destroyed.  He’s now been banned from the library and fined the $12,000 for the 31 ruined rare books.

I love that this story hit the news, because it is important for people to see that bed bugs can spread by all kinds of conduits — including ones so seemingly innocent as a library book.

Has the infestation been smaller — if bed bugs had not fallen out of books which were being checked back into the library — it may not have been noticed, and the books may have been reshelved.

If this had occurred, depending how rarely these tomes get pulled off the shelf, the bed bugs may have set off to bite others, perhaps in the library itself.

(We can only hope that items the man returned previously to the discovery did not contain bed bugs, perhaps to a less noticeable degree.)

It’s important to note also that there are others, like this man, who know they have bed bugs and — for whatever reason — appear to not be getting help.

Moreover, this man was not concerned about inflicting the problem on others.

What should happen when strangers find out someone is living with this problem — such a severe problem that they are easily transmitting it around town?

Should social services be called out?

The police?

Whatever department in Denver inspects housing for inhabitability?

What do you think?

Check out the rest of the article and video: Unwanted Visitors Found In Library Book Return – cbs4denver.com.

Update (9/24):

And now ABC7 in Denver reports the identity of the man who returned the books to the library.

The infected books came from 69-year-old Denver resident Roger Goffeney. He checks out historic books, some 200 years old, and helps archive them online in an effort called the Gutenberg Project.

When he brought a few of the rare books back, bed bugs from his downtown apartment hitched a ride. Goffeney said the landlord is to blame. Goffeney lives at Cathedral Plaza, which is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver.

“We’ve always had some kind of insect infestation, but it’s never been to this degree,” Goffeney said of the building where he lives.

Still, Goffeney said he didn’t think it was a big deal.

“I thought that they could easily be cleaned if they had discovered that to be the problem,” Goffeney said.

Cathedral Plaza is one of the Denver senior housing properties listed on the Archdiocesan Housing website.

ABC7 in Denver notes that Goffeney is considering filing a lawsuit to get his library privileges back.

Project Gutenberg is an effort to get books out of copyright online, so everyone with access to the internet can read them for free.  Project Gutenberg volunteers work to preserve literature.

Susan Greene wrote in the Denver Post that

Goffeney takes no responsibility for the blight, nor for fines he says should be paid by his lousy landlord. He sees little irony in the fact that his efforts to save world literature have resulted in book burning.

“Huh . . .,” he says. “I guess I’ve never thought of it like that.”

Even where landlords are responsible for treatment for bed bugs, tenants must participate both by disclosing the problem in their unit, by preparing for treatment, and by following up afterwards.  It’s unclear at this time whether Goffeney has received bed bug treatment, or if the landlord knows about and is attempting to fix the problem.

I guess now we’re waiting until the press hears from the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver?Similar Posts:

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Bed bugs have struck another firehouse, this time Station 2 in Wilmington, Delaware.

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