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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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:

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

Read the article here: Bedbugs bugging firefighters | 6abc.comSimilar Posts:

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Remember last week, when the boardinghouse/SRO hotel above the Tara Station Bar in Harrisburg was found to be infested — apparently by bed bugs — but in the two stories covering the case, WHPTV (CBS Channel 21) reporters refused to say the phrase “bed bugs”, referring instead to “bugs” and “insects?”

This was so, even though the attached videos showed what clearly appeared to be bed bugs crawling on a ceiling (speckled with what appeared to be bed bug fecal stains) and also crawling on a man’s shirt, and even though the same man showed them “bug bites” he had sustained? (Note: if you have an itchy bite mark and a bed bug is crawling on your shirt in broad daylight, entertaining a video crew, it’s probably a pretty safe bet you have bed bug bites.)

(You can see those earlier videos from CBS Channel 21 here and here.)

Well, we kind of figured that story wasn’t over.

Today, WGAL reports that the building was shut down by city code inspectors:

Police and fire companies are looking into possible bed bugs at a Harrisburg hotel. The chief of police said it is not healthy for anyone to stay the night.

Four city code inspectors were inside a small hotel owned by Wali Rentals LLC on Fourth and Chestnut streets Wednesday afternoon after they received a complaint about a bed bug problem.

Officials also closed a restaurant on the first floor of the building as a precaution.

Chief Charles Kellar said the inspectors themselves were infested with the bugs during their investigation. They were sent to Harrisburg Hospital to be decontaminated.

“One had a cuff, and she undid the cuff of her pants, and a lot came out of there. One guy said it looked like the walls were moving,” said Kellar.

(Notice how WGAL is referring to “possible bed bugs.”)

The residents were removed from the building:

Tenants were ushered through a mobile Haz-Mat shower unit to be decontaminated.

They were then taken to a local shelter and given a new set of clothing.

This is the second time we’ve heard of a HAZMAT shower being used to decontaminate residents who were asked to leave a bed bug-infested building. The first was in Jersey City last summer.

When fleeing a building where a code inspector could come out with “a lot of bugs” in a pants cuff, evacuees should be allowed to shower and change to fresh clothing and shoes. Precautions do need to be taken to avoid moving bed bugs to vehicles or to the evacuees’ next location.

But consensus in the comments on the Jersey City post was that a HAZMAT decontamination shower was overkill.

The hotel is getting three “exterminator treatments” (let’s hope that is enough to get rid of bed bugs in the building).

And apparently, the owner Wali Mohmand is still blaming tenants’ hygiene for bed bugs:

“I’m not their maid, they have to clean after themselves,” said Mohmand.

Sounds like CBS 21 News, the city code inspectors, and Mr. Mohmand still have a bit to learn about how bed bugs operate. They can infest any home, clean or dirty, cluttered or empty.

Oh, but wait, I forgot: first, someone in Harrisburg needs to actually verify that the “possible bed bugs” are, in fact, bed bugs.

Is that really so difficult?!?Similar Posts:

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WPXI.com reports that

The Allegheny County Health Department has seen an increase in calls about bedbugs. The tiny insects that live in mattresses were virtually eliminated by the use of D-D-T, a pesticide that was banned in the early ’70s.

During the past several decades, the bugs have made a big comeback.

Allegheny County Health Department Entomologist Bill Todaro said calls used to be few and far between and focused mainly on hotels or nursing homes, but now they have spread to apartments, row houses, single family homes and offices. Todaro said he receives about two or three calls a week.

And they’re spreading quickly!

“Right in the middle of Lawrenceville here where the whole street is a row house and they bring in bedbugs into the row house. Within months the whole street has all their bedding out for the garage,”Todaro said.

David Cain of bedbugs.co.uk tells similar stories of the spread of bed bugs along a street.

When it comes to bed bugs, “no man is an island.”

If you have bed bugs in your city, neighborhood, or street, it affects you, and you need to tell local elected officials to take action to stop the spread.

via Bedbugs Are Back; Health Dept. Sees Increase In Reports – News Story – WPXI Pittsburgh.Similar Posts:

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This article from the Wilkes Beacon (a student newspaper at Wilkes University, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) yesterday describes the ongoing battle against bed bugs in a student apartment in the university’s University Tower apartments, where the four student residents experienced bed bug bites, and saw bed bugs, even after multiple treatments.

It’s the third bed bug infestation at Wilkes University this academic year, according to the Wilkes Beacon. Of course, it can only be the third known bed bug infestation, since one can never be sure whether one has bed bugs that are as yet undetected or unreported.

The university called in their PCO (Terminex) to fight the infestation starting at the end of the Fall 2008 semester. According to Director of Residence Life Brenda Stanley:

“We brought in our pest control contractor…who we have used for a previous bed bug incident… and they came in and were inconclusive in their findings in terms of what the occupants presented and based upon what they actually found,” she said.

To alleviate any concerns school officials asked the pest control person to spray the area with the pesticide, which according to Stanley is eco-friendly.

Stanley also said that the school continued to treat the area over winter break and into the beginning to the spring semester. However, the residents continued to report bites and visual confirmation of the insects.

It’s interesting to note that before the first treatment, it sounds like Terminex was able to find no visual confirmation of the infestation, but after treating several times, the residents were finding bed bugs.

What is also unique about this story of bed bugs in a college, is that it’s the first time I recall hearing that students took their case to the city, when it was not resolved by the university:

After repeated treatments by the pest control company failed, the residents contacted the City of Wilkes-Barre.

An official from the city toured the apartment and told the residents to contact the school again and he would type a report for their records.

The article implies that the university moved students to a new apartment; it also provided them with new furniture and money for laundry.

And school officials say the infestation was isolated to the one unit:

Stanley added that the school and the pest control contractor was able to isolate the infestation to the single apartment.

She said, “We actually tested the four rooms adjacent to the apartment space, above and below, to ensure there wasn’t a deeper issue. That was both reassuring for the residents and for us to know that we had truly isolated it to its one location.”

I wonder how the testing was done? Perhaps Terminex or Wilkes U have access to one of the brand-new bed bug monitors, or perhaps they used a bed bug sniffing k9.

In any case, I hope extreme caution was taken to make sure bed bugs were not spread to the new apartment.

Bravo to Wilkes admin for talking about bed bugs, even when it means admitting that dealing with bed bugs is a struggle.

In my opinion, doing so is necessary as it opens the way for other students and staff to learn about the problem and what to do should they encounter it. More awareness of bed bugs is good for students, faculty, staff, parents, and administrators alike.

Read about an earlier case of bed bugs at Wilkes University here.
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Residents of an Allentown apartment building are facing bed bugs, NBC 10 reports. These are government-subsidized apartments run by the Lehigh County Housing Authority.

Residents are seeing bed bugs and some have had itchy bed bug bites for as long as five months.  Some tenants complained their units were not treated, others that the LCHA made them throw out beds and other furniture, which the residents cannot afford on their fixed incomes.

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Action News 6 in Philadelphia reports that around a hundred senior citizens have been evacuated from the Coatsville Towers apartment building in downtown Philly because of a bed bug infestation.

Every resident has been moved out — some to stay with relatives, and 23 more were evacuated to a Norrisville apartment building by their management company (AIMCO) — during pest control treatment.*

The good news is that the entire building is being treated using thermal heat. Done properly by professionals who know what they’re doing, thermal heat should entirely eliminate the problem of bed bugs in this building.

There’s one catch: thermal has no residual. And bed bugs can potentially return in one of two ways:

1. Whoever or whatever brought bed bugs in the first time can do so again.  Put another way, anyone can be exposed to bed bugs at any time.
2. Any of the residents may have potentially moved bed bugs with them and may have infested the place they stayed temporaily; they might even bring the bed bugs back again to the building when they return home.

This is not a reason not to use thermal methods: these things are true of all treatment methods to some degree. I think treatments that get rid of bed bugs in one shot are to be preferred for many reasons, and I love to see landlords consider them.

However, these possibilities are a reason to make sure residents understand the need to take precautions when returning to their homes, including laundering and carefully inspecting items.  Residents and relatives who hosted them should be educated about the signs of bed bugs. Residents also need to know how to avoid bringing bed bugs home in future.

Frankly, if I were heat treating a building, I’d spring for a hot truck to bake any stuff people took out, before they evacuated.  That, coupled with some bagged laundry and a good shower, could ensure the problem is cleared — at least for a good while — and ensure as well that family members or other alternate lodgings are not infested.

Many of the worst reports we read about in the news are senior citizens’ apartment buildings where bed bugs are allowed to thrive and spread, with minimal or sporadic treatment. It’s tragic when anyone is forced to live with bed bugs a moment longer than they need to; when the residents are elderly or disabled, it’s really shameful. So I really am very glad to see this story.

Click here to watch the ABC 6 video or read the accompanying text.

*AIMCO had some bad press about how they allegedly handled bed bug cases in another Philly building in the past.   We can’t judge them based on either of these two press mentions, but for what its worth, the Coatsville tenants interviewed in this story described suffering with bed bug bites before the treatment was implemented, and seemed quite happy with the way their management company was responding to the problem.Similar Posts:

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Bed bug have been found at Wilkes University, according to student paper, the Wilkes Beacon. They’ve been treated by Terminex, and students living in the affected building and their parents have been notified:

[Jeff] White [research entomologist for bedbugcentral.com] says that one of the most effective treatments against bed bugs is education.

Stanley says that the students and parents impacted by the bed bug outbreak at the residence hall was sent literature on bed bugs and the October edition of their parent newsletter will also include information on the subject.

(That’s Brenda Stanley, Wilkes’s Director of Residence Life.)

This is good, though I would follow the lead of some other colleges such as Stanford and SUNY Potsdam in trying to educate students outside of those living in the affected residence hall about bed bugs.

Bed bugs in one dorm can easily spread to others as students visit one another, stow stuff in gym lockers, sit in classrooms, hang out in cafes and bars, go to jobs, and so on. Students anywhere are at risk at picking bed bugs up, and should learn all they can about how to detect and avoid bed bugs.

And I also hope the information given in the literature is more comprehensive than that provided in the following excerpt from this article:

How does a student know if they have bed bugs?

“If someone has a series of bites on their body, typically on the chest/torso or leg/foot region, they should visit our Health and Wellness Office, located on the first floor of Evans Hall. The bites would have not pattern (random) and may appear to look like mosquito bites. A professional can determine if in fact, they are bedbug bites,” says Stanley.

There are two errors here. First, we are told doctors cannot identify bed bug bites with any certainty. They don’t always look the same. They can also be anywhere on the body. We’re told dermatologists cannot visually identify them. There are to my knowledge no tests to positively identify bed bugs as the cause of suspected bites.

In addition, the answer that people they will know they have bed bugs because they will get bed bug bites is not very helpful. There is a large percentage of the population who do not react in any way to bed bug bites. (Mississippi state medical entomologist Jerome Goddard claims 70% do not react). So waiting until you see bed bug bites or feel itchy can be bad news.

This is why some colleges, like Texas A&M, are taking it upon themselves to search proactively for bed bugs, for example, using bed bug sniffing dogs.

It seems that colleges are doing more than ever to educate about bed bugs, to detect them and get rid of them properly. Overall, this is not a bad article, but as this article and the one yesterday about SUNY Potsdam show, there is still room for improvement.

You can read the article from the Wilkes Beacon here.
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Some public housing authorities don’t seem to be tackling bed bugs as aggressively as they should.

Many public housing agencies (like other landlords) only treat units as residents report them infested, neglecting to inspect adjacent attached units. It’s not surprising that many infestations continue a year or more after the initial treatment.

Other public housing agencies leave bed bug inspections to apparently inexperienced building managers rather than enlisting experienced professionals, and some lack basic education about the pests, blaming tenants for the presence of bed bugs, and erroneously linking infestations to cleanliness of tenants’ homes.

Yesterday The Patriot-News reported that the Harrisburg (PA) Housing Authority seems to be reacting more aggressively than many public housing authorities:

The Harrisburg Housing Authority is dealing with regular bed bug uprisings. Before 2006, the problem was nonexistent, said LeRoy Robinson, an assistant to the authority’s executive director. The most intense problems have been at Morrison Towers, a 12-story high-rise for seniors on Chestnut Street.

Authority officials received a complaint from a resident about two months ago. The authority had the unit sprayed. But after another 10 or so complaints of bedbugs, they decided to spray the entire building.

To prevent a comeback, they now spray parts of the building twice a month, Robinson said. Treating all 12 floors costs $12,000. “It’s an expensive proposition, but you have to do it,” Robinson said.

It took two months and ten complaints before they treated the whole building. Perhaps they could have responded more swiftly, but this is more aggressive than many of the cases cited above.

Of course, one spraying, even of the whole building, is unlikely to suffice. Traditional treatments don’t kill bed bug eggs, which will hatch in 10-14 days after treatment. Any units with bed bugs need to be retreated at 10-14 day intervals until all bed bugs are gone and there are no further bites. And since many do not react to bed bug bites, whether bed bugs are gone can be hard to assess.

Regular follow-up inspections and treatments are vital, since tenants may be continually exposed to the same bed bugs originally brought in. Staff and tenants need education about how to prevent such reinfestations.

Public Housing Authorities would do well to consider the aggressive approach being taken by Toronto Community Housing, in refurbishing public housing units (sealing cracks is just one focus), setting treatment standards and response times for pest control vendors, and developing enterprise initiatives that hire and train residents to work as expert bed bug pest control technicians.

As voters and taxpaying citizens, we should all take an interest in the way our local public housing authorities respond to complaints of bed bugs, and pressure public officials to improve these responses.Similar Posts:

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