MEMPHIS, TN –

(WMC-TV) – Bed bugs are back and this time they shut down a Memphis dorm.

The Shelby County Health Department had to close the Ben Hooks Job Corps dorm because of the bed bug infestation.

Students staying in the Ben Hooks Job Corps Center dorms suffered welts all over their bodies following a bed bug infestation that some say has plagued the center for two years.

Photos of the students show their arms, stomachs, and legs covered it painful red bite marks. The students learned “Good night, don’t let the bed bugs bite” is not just a bedtime rhyme.

“We have students sleeping in chairs, sleeping on the floors because they’re tired of being bitten by bed bugs,” said former Job Corps board member Albert Robinson.

Robinson mentors students at the Ben Hooks Job Corps Center.

He said a pesky problem is shedding a dim light on Memphis and the State of Tennessee because students trained here come from all the country.

“We want it to be addressed and addressed properly so that the children can feel safe at the center,” said Robinson.

After a series of complaints, the Shelby County Health Department went in for an inspection and found bed bugs behind the beds, in mattresses, on sheets, and along the baseboards.

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Bed bugs close Memphis dormitory

By Mike Conroy

CREATED May. 9, 2012

Bed Bugs are crawling into communities all across the nation, including right her e in Northeast Wisconsin. Local business owners attended a ‘Bed Bugs Boot-camp’ to address their concerns. Pest control experts say bed bugs are virtually invisible to the human eye.

People can even carry bed bugs with them and not even know it. “People who may have an infestation go to where other people are and that’s how the bed bugs are being introduced and reintroduced and transferred from one person to the other. They’re hitchhikers.” Randy Allen from WL-KL Pest Control.

Specialists like Allen have turned to dogs, who have a keen sense of smell to find bed bugs. They can be spotted in homes and businesses like hotels, restaurants and movie theaters. Getting rid of them is not hard, especially when man’s best friend is there to help find the biting insects.

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Bed Bugs: Hard to See, Not Hard to Find

Most people remember being told as children to sleep tight and dont let the bedbugs bite. But since the late 1990s, these nocturnal, blood-sucking pests have been making a worldwide comeback and are leaving many Chicagoans with sleepless nights and lots of itchy bites.

Bedbugs were prevalent in the United States through the World War II era, but virtually disappeared after the use of synthetic pesticides, like DDT, became widespread.

Courtesy ORKIN, INC. – Adult bedbugs are approximately the size of an appleseed and can live for more than a year without feeding. They can endure extreme temperatures, making them hard to kill.

Youll hear a lot of different reasons as to why bedbugs have made a comeback, said Jeff White, a research entomologist for the informational website, BedBugCentral.com. But I dont think we will ever be able to put our finger on one specific reason.

The most important thing is to raise public awareness about bedbugs because many people either think they are a myth or have little understanding of them, White said. For example, some people think getting bedbugs is a sign of being unclean or is more frequent in poor communities, but White said thats not true.

[Getting bedbugs] has absolutely nothing to do with cleanliness or socio-economic class, White said. That is a big misconception about bedbugs-anyone can get them.

These unwelcome, parasitic house guests are small, reddish-brown insects that feed on human blood. Adult bedbugs are about a quarter-inch-long, ovular in shape and relatively flat. They have no wings, and therefore do not fly, but are experts at hiding in the smallest of crevices, making them extremely difficult to get rid of.

Chris Enright, the Chicago central services manager for Orkin Pest Control, said in the past couple of years he has seen a significant increase in the number of calls his branch receives about bedbug infestations-from a couple of calls per month to a couple of calls per week.

Logan Square resident Joe Andert, 19, got bedbugs about two months ago and just recently had them exterminated. He said he started waking up with small, itchy bites but didnt realize he had bedbugs at first.

I thought I was allergic to [laundry] detergent, or something like that, Andert said.

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Home » Metro » Bedbugs bite Chicago

Residents at the Pipestone Housing and Redevelopment Authoritys (HRA) 20 scattered houses are now on the hook if bed bugs or cockroaches are found in their homes.

The HRA Board approved a policy during its April 11 meeting that will hold residents accountable for half of the cost to eradicate the pests if the cost to do so is over $400.

The boards decision follows its decision in February to conduct biannual bed bug inspections with bed bug-sniffing dogs at all HRA-owned properties, including the scattered housing sites and Nokomis Apartments. The HRA decided to implement the policies after it spent nearly $21,500 since October 2011 eradicating bed bugs from 12 apartments at Nokomis and one HRA-owned house.

Tammy Manderscheid, HRA executive director, said the new accountability policy applies only to the HRAs scattered housing sites and not to Nokomis Apartments, as it would be too difficult to determine from which apartment the bed bugs originated.

In other business the HRA:

-Will solicit additional architectural bids for a window replacement project planned for Nokomis Apartments later this year. The HRA Board opened two bids during its March meeting one for $15,000 and one for $29,452.50 and referred the bids to the window committee, which decided to try to obtain more bids. Manderscheid said she has learned of five more companies that might be interested in the project since the previous bids were opened. The new bids will be opened at the Boards May 9 meeting and considered along with the previous two bids.

The replacement of Nokomis 183 windows is expected to cost around $300,000 and will be paid for with capital funds, which must be obligated by July 15.

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Bed bug policy adopted

Bedbugged! is a weekly column by journalist and bed bug survivor Theresa Braine. For more, clickhere.

Ive been going on aboutmoving lately, but thats because Im still doing it. And because I keep running into examples ofhow not to do it.

Now, finally, I have actually done it right, in terms of avoiding bed bugs. I think. What I did right was hire a mover with a bonafide bed bug protocol. I had this chance to redeem myself moving-wise when my cousin decided to cut her overhead and move to a share, dumping all her stuff. She happened to have what I lack, given that I came from a share: loveseat, microwave, some shelves, a nightstand or two, a coffee table–everything I needed to finish situating myself.

Knowing that her apartment was bed bugfree, I had no qualms about accepting used items in this one case. But once again I found myself fretting about how to move without worrying about getting bed bugs. First I stewed about whom to call.

Did I give the company I had initially contacted for my New Years Eve move another chance? Not the people who came, but the people who I had reached out to initially, who had farmed the thing out? Did I call the hipster-run company I had gotten a quote from, even though I knew they didnt have any more clues about bed bugs than the dope-smoking Casanova who was part of the first movers team? I even briefly entertained the idea of calling those movers who had actually been sent to me on New Years Eve.

But I could not get past the dispatchers statement: Ive worked here for almost a year, and they’ve never had that kind of problem. That is like saying you will never get the flu because youve never had it. Loath to hire any of those companies, even for a small amount of furniture, but worried about the cost of someone likeMoishes, which has a bed bug protocol, I fussed for days.

During that time, something registered in me that Ive heard and read from lots of people. I cant afford it, people often say of things bed bugrelated. They say this about hiring a pest-control operator (PCO). They say it about treating their possessions. In short, people balk at spending money on bed bug prevention or eradication, resenting the expense. Thing is, bed bugs are expensive. And just because something is unpleasant doesnt mean it should not cost money. Nevertheless, I agonized. Then I decided to stop dithering and do what my mind needed to do. I made the call. Moishes turned out to be comparable to the other movers. And to boot, when I asked them about their bed bug protocol, they had ready, and sensible, answers. Our trucks are regularly treated and inspected for bed bugs, were the joyful words I heard. Not only that, but the trucks were inspected by a third-party PCO, using a dog.

On top ofthat, the trucks were regularly treated regardless of inspection outcome. Moreover, fresh, clean new blankets were used for every move, the rep on the phone said. In addition, if I wanted it, I could get everything shrink-wrapped. Given that the truck would have been inspected the night before and would have moved at most one person that morning, chances were slim to none that that one move would have bed bugs in it, or that they would transfer onto my things. So I lightened up a tad. There are things I did not do that the 100-percent-thorough person would have done. I could have had the truck inspected myself.

Icould have had everything wrapped in plastic, encased the smaller items in giant plastic bags and thrown out the plastic before the things came to my apartment.

I could have had the truck and all my belongings fumigated overnight at a fumigation facility, although that would have been extreme unless they were definitely infested. But I chose not to go to that degree. Having done a fair amount of due diligence, and knowing that Moishes has agood reputationand what appears to be a fair amount of bed bug awareness (not once did the dispatcher spout that it has never happened to us line), I decided to trust them on this.

Excerpt from:
How I Moved Past My Bed Bug Neurosis To Embrace Used Furniture

Published On:Apr 19 2012 11:18:53 PM CDT

The Spring Branch Independent School District is letting parents know that bed bugs were found on one of its campuses.

The bugs were found at Hollibrook Elementary School. A teacher spotted the bugs and asked for a pest inspection. That inspection did prove there were bed bugs in a classroom.

Spring Branch ISD sent out this statement: “The classroom has now been treated and cleaned and, as an extra precaution, the students and teacher have been assigned to a separate classroom.”

Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on “Post” you acknowledge that you have read theTerms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.

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Bed bugs found on school campus

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Bed Bug Dogs in action! Trained at top K9 Training School in Florida. Bed bug detection dogs – Video

POCAHONTAS, AR (KAIT) – A Region 8 News investigation into bed bugs at a local hotel. The Randolph County Health Department found the severe case of bed bugs at the Cottonwood Inn in Pocahontas.

“They come out at night, but they will retreat to areas like the corners of the room and behind the electrical receptacles,” said Randolph County Health Department Administrator Kathy Smith.

They’re creatures so small they’re almost hard to recognize…bed bugs! And these unwelcome guests are taking over a Pocahontas Motel.

It’s a story we uncovered through a bed bug inspection report obtained from the Randolph County Health Department. The investigation was conducted Tuesday at the Cottonwood Inn.

Bed bugs were traced in multiple rooms with each room identical in nature. Page after page of the report was classified with a stage 3 inspection ranking, with inspectors observing live bugs, blood spots, and eggs in several rooms. Inspectors were not allowed to exam the owners private quarters, but the owners did agree to have the unit treated.

For the past several years, Black River Technical College has rented rooms from the inn to house officers going through the police academy training program.

“We have about 32 that have to stay locally overnight because it’s too far to drive. So they stay here and we’ve been able to house them at the Cottonwood Inn,” said BRTC Vice President Roger Johnson.

It was after some concerns were brought up by some of the officers, that college officials felt the need to contact the Health Department. Randolph County Health Department Administrator Kathy Smith says that’s all it took for them to step in.

“If anyone suspects there is a problem, then we go out and check. We have to inspect a minimum of two rooms,” said Smith. For every room infected, inspectors much also examine any adjoining room. Smith says the health department is working with the college in handling their situation.

“Once we access a facility and we identify a problem, then we go to the complainant for education instructions about how to rid themselves of the bed bugs and we relocate people,” said Smith.@

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Randolph County Health Department investigates bed bugs at local motel

A Farragut hotel is the first in Tennessee to have its operating license revoked. The West Plaza Inn and Suites is located off Outlet Drive in West Knox County.

The Knox County Health Department said the hotel was inspected four times in 2011. It scored below 60 each time. The state average inspection score for Tennessee hotels is 89.

Health officials said they gave the hotel owner, Jet Patel, two weeks to make changes. Patel’s license was revoked after no progress was made.

Inspectors said insects were a big problem, including roaches walking on ceilings.

“When we would go in, the infestations were so bad they would fall on your head when you walked in,” said Scott Bryan, Environmental Manager for the KCHD. “Most of the bedrooms we inspected had bed bugs or have had bed bug issues in the past.”

Bryan named other violations like mold, unusable fire extinguishers and unusable fire alarms.

Attorney Stephen H. Byrd represents the hotel and Patel. Byrd said the hotel has been treated for insects since the last inspection.

“I feel like this hotel, as scrutinized as it’s going to be, will probably be one of the cleanest hotels around here,” Byrd said.

The attorney said his clients plan to fix bothhealth and building code violations and reopen late this year.

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Knox hotel first in TN to lose operating license

This 2006 photo proviced by the Center for Disease Control depicts a frontal view of an adult bedbug, Cimex lectularius, as it is in the process of ingesting a blood meal from the arm of a voluntary human host. Bedbugs are not vectors in nature of any known human disease. Bedbug bites are difficult to diagnose due to the variability in bite response between people, and due to the change in skin reaction for the same person over time. Bedbugs are responsible for loss of sleep, discomfort, disfiguring from numerous bites and occasionally bites may become infected. COURTESY OF CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL

Lebanon School District is taking aggressive steps to contain a pesky problem – bed bugs.

The difficult-to-eradicate pests were recently found at Northwest Elementary School, Superintendent Marianne Bartley said Friday.

When the school at Ninth and Maple streets was empty Thursday night, technicians from Ehrlich’s brought two bed bug-sniffing dogs inside, Bartley said. The bugs were not found in carpeting but were found in chairs and student items, she said.

“They were found in a couple of locations, so we removed the objects. They will be shrink-wrapped and treated and then brought back to the building,” she said.

Letters were sent home to parents of children at all of the district’s schools on aFriday, stating that

Prevention and Control

An integrated pest management program is the best way to prevent and control bed bugs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website www.epa.gov/bedbugs .

Steps that should be taken include:

The families of students whose desks or belongings contained bed bugs are being notified so they can contact a physician for treatment of bites and ways to eliminate the pests, Bartley said.

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Bed bugs found in Lebanon school