Bed Bug News Archive

While on vacation at Atlantis Paradise Resort Bahamas, a well-known five-star resort, Cindi Avila from Florida has reported being bitten by hundreds of bed bugs. Avila realized that she was being bitten while in bed and decided to lift up the mattress, only to find hundreds of bed bugs hiding underneath. She has since filed a lawsuit against the luxury resort seeking a $15,000 settlement for all the pain and agony that was bestowed upon her. Avila says that she never thought she would find such an extreme bed bug infestation in a reputable five-star resort like Atlantis. This just goes to show that bed bugs can be found in all places, no matter how luxurious and clean it may look.

The Toronto City Council meeting this week had some very interesting points relating to social issues, especially regarding residents who have experienced a bed bug infestation. Since bed bugs have been a progressing issue in Toronto over the past several years, city council has decided to provide even more help to residents that have to deal with these nasty pests. This help will be added to the Housing Stabilization Fund, which is an emergency housing benefit for people on social assistance. The assistance comes in the form of helping people on social assistance who are dealing with bed bug infestations to more easily access money that will be used to replace soft furniture including beds so that they can return quickly to a normal lifestyle after having their home treated for bed bugs.

A long time resident of Midland Ontario, near Toronto, recently had bed bugs invade her home, most likely as a result of bringing a used sofa into her apartment. Exterminators were brought in the day after the infestation was reported to prevent them from spreading to other units in the building. Lori Holmes, who works with the Simcoe Muskoka District House Unit, reassured reporters that bed bugs do not pose any serious health risks, which she believes is very important for people to keep in mind. Holmes also mentioned that the first thing anyone should do when they think they have a bed bug infestation is call in a professional bed bug exterminator so that they can be properly identified and dealt with.

The lost and found office at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was shut down on the morning of Oct 5 due to a bed bug sighting. Susan Sperling, spokesman for the TTC told the Toronto Sun “We opened a package with a jacket that had bed bugs and we decided to fumigate as a precautionary measure.” Within 4 hours of finding the bed bug infested jacket, the office was treated by a professional bed bug exterminator and remained closed for 72 hours for the safety of the employees that work at the office. Sperling also mentioned that whenever they receive a bed bug report on one of the transit cars, the vehicle is thoroughly treated immediately to alleviate the threat of bed bugs spreading to other cars.

Students moving into university dorms this month could have a surprise awaiting their arrival; and unfortunately, not a pleasant surprise. Leanne Ashworth, director of Housing and Jobs Office in Montreal Canada says that a lot of students will be moving into bed bug infested rooms this September completely unaware of what lies ahead. What makes this problem worst is that most of these students don’t even know what bed bugs are, mistakenly identifying the bites as a rash or allergic reaction. It isn’t until months later that some students realize that they have bed bugs, making it much more difficult to eliminate the threat. A key component to battling this problem, therefore, is to educate new students about bed bugs so they can act quick when a bed bug infestation is noticed and call a bed bug exterminator.

Although it is very rare, there is a slight possibility that you can encounter bed bugs while enjoying a night at the cinema. A guest at Cinema City Movies 12 in Canada recently posted a video on Facebook that went viral of what looks like a couple bed bugs crawling on a seat of one auditorium. Immediately after hearing about this, the auditorium was closed and a bed bug expert was called in to investigate. According to Cineplex Entertainment who owns the cinema, no bed bug activity was found by the bed bug exterminator. However, the auditorium remained closed for 2 days so it could be thoroughly treated as a precautionary measure.

Bed bugs have been causing a lot of concern in the past few years for residents all around Toronto as well as Montreal. Since July 2011 there has been nearly 23,000 residential bed bug infestations reported in Montreal alone, with no end in sight to the bedbug problem. According to François Saillant, spokesperson for housing group FRAPRU, the bed bug problem in Montreal has entered almost every Montreal neighbourhood reaching what he considers epidemic proportions. Saillant claims that the city is doing a great job to inform the public of the issue, however, they are not putting enough pressure on landlords to make sure that bed bug cases are properly dealt with. If you are travelling to Montreal from Toronto, make sure to stay weary and properly wash your belongings before getting back home.