Homeless shelters plagued by bedbugs

[n2doc]

Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite
As Shelter Traffic Increases, So Do Parasites
by JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE


As the economy continues its free fall, homeless shelters around Seattle say they’re seeing a steady increase in the number of people seeking refuge from the cold winter nights. “I think the fact that the economy has been sinking over the last few months is definitely starting to play into it,” says Ryan Fouts, a case manager at ROOTS, a 25-bed shelter in the University District that exclusively serves 18- to 25-year-olds.

In an unfortunate coincidence, the shelters are also seeing an increase in unwelcome parasitic guests: bedbugs.

This winter, residents at several Seattle shelters have woken up to find themselves covered in small, itchy, red bite marks, usually near a vein. “This is something that’s come up for us very recently,” says ROOTS executive director Sinan Demirel. “We thought we had dodged this bullet, and then we found our first bedbugs.”

Bedbugs—small, flat, red bugs, detectable by bite marks as well as telltale smears of blood and bug feces left behind on bedsheets—are a growing problem across the United States. Cities like San Francisco and New York City have formed task forces and instituted public-awareness campaigns, distributing pamphlets and warning stickers after citywide outbreaks in shelters, apartment buildings, and hotels.

Until recently, Seattle public-health officials hadn’t tracked bedbug infestations, as the pests don’t spread disease. But in October, Heather Barr, a public health nurse for King County’s Healthcare for the Homeless Network, set up a task force to track bedbug outbreaks at shelters across the city.

more:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/dont-let-the-bedbugs-bite/Content?oid=1086374

[glowing]

1. Another wonderful thing brought to you by globalization.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Nah - they are caused by people cutting the tags off mattresses. nt

[Ocracoker16]

3. Many shelters in DC have this problem as well

[Journeyman]

4. This has been a problem in hotels and other institutions across the country . . .

for quite a few years now.

My disabled brother had them throughout his apartment in Denver some years ago. We hired an exterminator, and that helped, but the problem, we were told, was widespread throughout the region. I researched it then and found that, true enough, there was an infestation which began a few years ago and was prevalent in cities across the nation.

Google "hotel bed bugs." You'll find quite a few results, stretching years back.

March 2007: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/Story?id=2963810&page=1

Bed Bugs Lurk in Hotel Rooms: Travelers Increasingly Plagued by Invisible Blood-Sucking Pest

April 2007: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/08/MNGIDP4V7K1.DTL

Bedbugs bounce back: Outbreaks in all 50 states

December 2007: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/30/2007-12-30_bedbug_epidemic_attacks_new_york_city.html

Bedbug epidemic attacks New York City