Northeast Portland school battling bed bugs

by Katherine Cook, KGW Staff

kgw.com

Posted on January 17, 2014 at 9:09 AM

PORTLAND -- A Northeast Portland High School has been dealing with a creepy problem: bed bugs.

"We were all squeamish and 'Eww,'" said Christina Rilatt, secretary at Alliance High, Meek campus, on Northeast Alberta Court.

According to district officials, an English teacher discovered the first bed bug in his classroom last week. Instead of throwing it away, he put the bed bug in a container and showed it to pest control.

Without that positive identification, we wouldnt have able to treat the problem so quickly, said Portland Public Schools spokeswoman Christine Miles.

On Thursday, the district brought in a "bed bug-sniffing dog," to sniff the entire school. The dog discovered traces of bed bugs in seven lockers, a classroom and pile of clothes that had been donated.

"All of those things were steam-cleaned," said Miles. She said this was the first time the district had ever dealt with bed bugs at any of its schools.

Miles said district officials werent sure where the bed bugs came from. They believed they have solved the problem, but to make sure, they planned to bring back the bed bug-sniffing dog in a couple weeks.

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Northeast Portland school battling bed bugs