Bed Bug News Archive

You may think hospitals are clean and hygienic, but they can be home to rodents and other bugs and pests too. This recent incident in a hospital in Jharkhand, India is testimony of this. A dead patient’s body, which was laid near the tap of the emergency bathroom, became rodent food when rodents ate away on the man’s fingers. Apparently, this isn’t the first time such an incident has happened in the hospital. The Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital located in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand has reportedly experienced a similar incident before. Contrary to popular belief that hospitals are always hygienic and free of any rodents, bugs and pests, multiple incidents such as this indicate otherwise. To make sure your hospital is safe, it is best to call Canada’ best exterminators.

Tenants of a building located in Barton Street East complained of the bad conditions of their building, which includes rodents, bedbugs, and cockroaches, and they have even protested against the building owners, Malleum Partners. The pest and bug issues, combined with toilets and fridges that don’t work, windows that don’t close, and stoves and fridges that aren’t working have made the building less than ideal to live in. Malleum Partners, on the other hand, says the concerns of the tenants are a result of poor management by previous owners, and that they are working as diligently and quickly as they can to improve the conditions of the building. Pest and bug issues are common issues present in many houses and commercial spaces. Make sure you contact professional exterminators in Canada as soon as you notice, before it gets worse.

Bed bugs can cause more than just bites. Bed bug infestations have caused physical, emotional and financial setbacks to victims. The recent story of how a mother and babysitter sustained 117 bedbug bites while staying at a Calgary based hotel is a case in point. Although she and her friend had been staying at the same Inn for the past two years without facing any bed bug problem, this year has been a nightmare. After she noticed multiple red welts on her body, a complaint to Alberta Health Services resulted in a professional bed bug exterminator being called to the facility. Apart from the constant itching, burning and scars in multiple places on her body, she also had to deal with the financial consequences of bed bug bites. Many families pulled out of her babysitting services fearing infestation while her clothes were damaged due to high-temperature washing. Call us to have our professional bed bug exterminators in Toronto take care of your bed bug problems.

Bed bugs are a worldwide problem but hotels seem to be bearing the brunt of the menace. The news of Sabrina Jales St. Pierre, the Brazilian model being subject to “massacre” by bed bugs at a California based hotel had grabbed headlines. As per a recent study, $6,383 is the amount hotels spend on each incident related to bed bugs. These costs are related to professional bed bug extermination, replacement of goods, and business losses. The study showed each bed bug related outbreak resulted in 50 room night occupancy being lost. But the costs are much more than this when the litigation costs are added. Hotels spend close to $23,000 for each bed bug related litigation as per this study. Given that each hotel deals with 7.1 bedbug litigations on an average over a time frame of five years, the costs go up to $160,000. Prevention is obviously way better than reaction to an infestation, call us!

A nationwide survey in the U.S. revealed seasonal variation in bed bug infestation that is in line with past trends. Called Bed Bug Activity Survey, the researchers found although most of the data were consistent with historical bed bug infestation data, some abnormalities did show up that require further investigation. The participants were the professional bed bug exterminators who provided data on bed bug treatments on a monthly basis. The warm summer months generally were noted to have the highest bed bug activity where professional pest control companies reported increased earnings. In winter months, bed bug activity goes down and this is a behavior that is consistent with other pests including German cockroaches. Some experts believe summer months are when people tend to travel more and the increased movement along with the rise in temperature are some causes behind the increased bed bug activity in summer.

Bed bugs are known to trigger allergies in sensitive people besides causing annoying bite marks. But at a Californian apartment, the bed bug infestation resulted in an extreme level of scarring of the entire body of a 3-year-old. The family had rented the apartment and had been dealing with the bugs for a long time to no avail. After their infant daughter, as well as themselves, were badly bitten by the bugs, a complaint in civil court was registered by the family. The jury ordered a compensation of USD$2 million to be paid by the landlords, which is reportedly the highest ever paid compensation. Although previously the family had got their apartment fumigated, the bugs had gotten resistant to some of the toxic pesticides used. The ideal solution is to consult professional bed bug exterminators who use eco-friendly pesticides.

Dogs are known for their talent to sniff out bombs, termites, insects, drugs, and for us bedbugs. Dogs have been successfully used by professional pest control companies in Toronto and across Canada to detect the presence of bed bugs and other pests. Studies show that while humans succeed 30% of the time in detecting bed bugs, dogs are at the 99th percentile in terms of successful detection. A 2008 clinical trial showed that dogs can be trained to sniff out bed bugs as well as live eggs of these bugs at 90% accuracy. In the U.S., the National Pest Management Association recommends that professional bed bug exterminators make use of canine teams that are specially trained in detecting bed bug scents. The Association believes that canine teams are very useful when there is a suspicion of bed bug infestation but no visual evidence is found. At Pestend our canines are beloved family pets and enjoy assisting their handlers in detecting bedbugs for treats.