Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
Canada: Plague of Bedbugs sucking human blood nationwide, but no one is
tracking the pests
at 14:14 on September 11, 2010, EDT.
Pat Hewitt, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The creepy comeback of bedbugs in Canada has an Ontario
politician calling for a national health strategy to track the tiny
bloodsuckers.
They're crawling into homes, apartments, hospitals, hotels and student
residences nationwide.
They prefer human blood and their bites can leave itchy, red bumps.
Reports from the pest control industry and hotel and housing
organizations suggest infestations have risen dramatically in recent
years, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.
Still, the agency and more than a dozen municipal public health units
and provincial health ministries contacted across the country say they
don't track infestations.
Bedbugs aren't a public health issue and don't have to be reported to
health authorities, they say.
Ontario Liberal Michael Colle, who's organizing a bedbug summit on
Sept. 29 at the Ontario legislature, disagrees.
"It's almost debilitating. People tell me they can't sleep, it's very
expensive and they don't know what to do, what works," said Colle.
While public health officials say there are no known cases of
infectious disease transmitted by bedbugs, scratching the bitten areas
can lead to infection.
Eradicating the wingless, 6-mm long bugs can cost thousands of dollars.
Within its one-year life span a female bedbug can lay 200 to 400 eggs —
making them a real threat to homeowners and businesses alike.
"You can see what happens when there was this bedbug scare at the
Toronto film festival," said Colle.
A posting on Twitter about bedbugs at a theatre got entertainment
websites buzzing, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
Colle said it's tough to battle the bugs when nobody is tracking their
march into the beds of sleeping Canadians.
"This is the problem. There's no data or hard scientific facts about
the proliferation, the concentration," said Colle.
"Hopefully the summit will get attention and resources paid for
provincially, but also asking the federal government. They've got to be
involved in getting a national health strategy to deal with this thing."
The U.S.-based website
bedbugregistry.com logs complaints from users
across North America, but there's no verification process provincially
or Canada-wide, said Colle.
Toronto is seeing a resurgence of bedbugs and has more than other
jurisdictions, according to Toronto Public Health.
It responded to more than 1,500 complaints or requests for service from
the public in 2009. There were 1,076 complaints from January through
July alone this year.
Ottawa's health unit has had 70 to 75 calls so far this year from
people who've reported bedbugs at hotels or from tenants or landlords,
compared to 60 in 2009 and 70 the year before.
Montreal and other big cities in Quebec have seen a comeback in the
past three to four years.
"What seems to be transpiring from the field is that there's more and
more infestations," said Dr. Stephane Perron with Montreal Public
Health.
In 2007, 20 buildings of the 700 managed by Montreal's municipal
housing corporation were infested with bedbugs. A year later, the
number had jumped to 120 buildings.
But bedbug infestations in private homes are dramatically
under-reported because there's a stigma attached to having them. Most
people, for example, didn't answer survey questions in Montreal about
the issue, Perron said.
Edmonton and Regina have seen more calls this year about bedbugs.
Vancouver and Calgary officials say there have been some reports of
bedbugs but nothing significant.
Victoria has seen occasional problems with bedbugs in homeless
shelters. Newfoundland had bedbugs in some rooms for rent.
Anyone can get bedbugs, Colle noted.
"I always vividly recall a 90-year-old woman who essentially had gotten
rid of her furniture, fumigated, bought new furniture then they came
back again. She was at her wit's end," said Colle.
Thornhill, Ont.-based Purity Pest Control gets 50 to 60 calls a week
for inspections with its sniffer dogs, a service that costs about $350,
said owner Michael Goldman.
Treatment for a four-bedroom house is about $1,500, which includes
steaming and vacuuming.
Even then, some bugs or their eggs may still lurk in walls, under
baseboards or in mattresses, said Goldman.
Some companies use thermal heating.
Swedish researchers think they might have an answer.
A recent study from that country found that immature bedbugs — known as
nymphs — secrete an anti-aphrodisiac pheromone that deter male bedbugs
from mating.
Researchers suggest using that pheromone in an insecticide could stop
bedbugs from reproducing.
Many broad-spectrum, long-lasting pesticides that kill bedbugs have
been banned and ones that remain are less effective, Goldman said.
Mattress encasement covers cost about $75 and do work, Goldman said, if
you can get over the squeamishness of knowing what lies beneath you
when you sleep.
Curbside shoppers and garage sale groupies should beware.
"I just came from an inspection... that the people bought a used couch
and unbeknownst to them there were bedbugs in it," said Goldman.
He suggests ripping holes in infested couches or mattresses left at the
curb so no one drags them — and the creepy crawlers inside — home.