Why bed bugs are a problem in the Downtown Eastside

The tent city at Oppenheimer Park

(Twitter @angelabsurdist)

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) The City of Vancouver is seeking an injunction to remove the campers that have been occupying Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside since July.

Many of the people at the encampment say theyre tired of the bed bugs and other problems plaguing Downtown Eastside rooming houses.

Exterminators definitely make the rounds in the neighbourhood, but a local expert concedes getting rid of bed bugs involves more than just hiring a pest control company.

For one, tenants have to be diligent about following pre- and post-treatment instructions, and that can be a problem for people dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues.

We supply them with a checklist of things they have to do as far as preparing for treatment. You have the laundering of all clothing. Then after treatment, theres daily vacuuming and keeping a ledger to keep track of how many bed bugs youre seeing each day. They have to do their part, says James Roach with Abell Pest Control.

Another problem is how tenants circulate throughout the building.

One guy goes to visit his buddy on the other side of the building or up three floors and over in the corner and brings the bed bugs with him and that spreads the problem. A lot of the time bed bugs persist because people are not aware they have the bugs, they fail to report the problem, and they transport them to other places in the building.

Still, Roach stresses bed bugs can show up anywhere, even in five million dollar homes.

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Why bed bugs are a problem in the Downtown Eastside