Category Archives: Canada Bed Bugs

14 March 2013 Last updated at 11:41 ET By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC World Service

Bed bugs use a range of tactics to render insecticides useless, a study suggests.

Infestations are on the rise around the world, but the pests are growing resistant to some chemicals.

Now scientists have found 14 genes associated with a number of biological changes.

These include the development of a thicker skin that stops poisons from penetrating, and mutations that prevent toxins from hitting the nervous system.

Bed bugs are employing more than one mechanism of resistance to avoid insecticide toxicity

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, also suggests that some of the bugs are producing higher levels of enzymes that help to metabolise insecticides more quickly.

Others genes are associated with proteins that interfere with the way the deadly chemicals are carried around the bed bugs' bodies.

Subba Palli, professor entomology from the University of Kentucky in the US and an author of the study, said that the hardy insects were using a combination of these molecular tricks.

"Some used four different mechanisms, some three and so on," he explained.

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How bed bugs 'dodge insecticides'

METRO VANCOUVER -- Residents of a housing complex in Burnaby are fed up with a chronic infestation of bed bugs that has persisted despite numerous attempts to eradicate the bloodsuckers.

Stratford Gardens, a multi-building housing complex on Pandora Street, has been infested with the bugs for years.

"It's on ongoing thing," said resident Marilyn McLeod. "I'm tired of this."

Nirmal Bains, another resident, said she had no bed to sleep on because of the bugs.

"I just hope someone can do something about them," she said. "It's gone on so long."

Rick Rizzuto has lived at Stratford Gardens for approximately eight years, and he estimated that the infestation has lasted the past couple of years.

"I've been bitten. They like me," he said. "I would get a new bed and a new couch, . but you can't up and spend $2,000 every time there's an infestation."

Rizzuto has seen the bugs crawling on his arms and legs. He has avoided his family, for fear of spreading the infestation.

"Last time I saw my parents was four years (ago). I can't see anyone because of this," he said.

B.C. Housing has brought in pest control crews, but the bugs are still an ongoing problem.

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Burnaby housing complex infested with bed bugs

HOUSTON -

Wedding and baby registries are common, but now there's a rather unusual registry one for bedbugs.

Bedbugs don't discriminate. They can be found in five-star hotels, motels, homeless shelters and luxury homes.

"You can feel them crawling on you, moving on you," said one Houstonians who was dealing with bedbugs.

"I had to get rid of clothes, beds, furniture," said another Houstonian.

There's now a free public database of bed bug sightings and bitings all over the United States and Canada.

At bedbugregistry.com, people can search by city or ZIP code and get first-hand accounts from victims.

When KPRC Local 2 searched Houston, more than 100 addresses popped up. Each one was a unique entry by someone who claimed to have a close encounter with bedbugs.

"Found a bug that bit me," one person wrote in July 2011. "Ignored it thinking it was just a bug. The next night I awoke to many bugs biting me. Upon flipping mattress, I saw bugs scurrying to the corners trying to hide."

While it's virtually impossible to confirm a person's entry, the information could be helpful for someone looking to move into a new apartment or someone looking for a place to stay for the night.

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Website tracks bedbug sightings

The B.C. government is cleaning and treating two court facilities in downtown Vancouver and considering preventive measures, such as getting rid of carpets and upholstered furniture at one location, after bedbugs were found at both sites.

The unwelcome discovery is likely to trigger stepped-up scrutiny at courthouses around the province, said Kevin Jardine, assistant deputy minister of the Court Services Branch of the Ministry of Justice.

Now that we are alive to this issue, its quite likely that we will be both training regular cleaning staff to look for signs and potentially if we see anything, we wont hesitate to bring somebody in, Mr. Jardine said, referring to pest control contractors.

Bedbugs were found just before Christmas at the Downtown Community Court, triggering an inspection of the nearby provincial courthouse at 222 Main St., where inspections also turned up bedbugs.

The two sites are a block apart in the citys Downtown Eastside, where bedbugs are a recurring problem in rundown single-room occupancy hotels, many of which are slated for renovation.

At the Community Court, which opened in 2008, bedbugs were found in a courtroom but not in staff areas, Mr. Jardine said. That facility was designed with mostly hard surfaces and was relatively easy to clean.

At 222 Main, one of the busiest of the 44 courthouses in the province, inspections turned up pests in three courtrooms, some public areas and a barristers lounge. Upholstered furniture and carpeting means inspections are taking longer.

Contractors are using cleaning and chemical treatments to eliminate the bedbugs, Mr. Jardine said.

Information sessions are planned to update employees on pest-control measures and tips to avoid taking bedbugs home with them.

Bedbugs, about the size of an apple seed, feed on the blood of humans, birds and other animals. They do not carry disease but bites can be itchy and painful and infestations expensive and difficult to control.

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Province cleans up two downtown court houses after bedbugs found

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press Published Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 4:47PM EST

TORONTO -- Canada's largest veterans centre had police escort the daughter of an aged vet from the facility and warned her never to return on pain of arrest after she complained about bed bugs and a patient-safety issue.

Jackie Storrison said Sunday she was devastated and humiliated to be marched out of Sunnybrook Veterans Centre by security and issued a formal do-not trespass notice.

"I was paraded through Warrior's Hall like a common criminal in front of a large crowd to my great embarrassment," Storrison said.

"I believe this to be a deliberate, calculated act of retribution against me for attempting to advocate for my father."

Storrison, 61, is among more than a dozen relatives with loved ones in the veterans centre who have spoken publicly about concerns of neglect and substandard care of the most frail residents at the 500-bed centre.

Those concerns prompted Minister of Veterans Affairs Steven Blaney to order an inspection and audit of the facility. Results are pending.

Storrison said she was forced to leave Thursday evening after she notified a group of nurses that she had spotted an elderly resident pushing a food table down a hallway.

"It was obvious this resident was at risk of falling and potential serious injury," she said.

"No one moved."

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Police escort daughter from Toronto vets centre after bed-bug complaint