City
Bed bugs in Toronto
Bed bugs seem to be everywhere in Toronto: residences, hospitals, hotels and libraries. Even movie theatre patrons are (notoriously) reporting outbreaks. But how did it all start? Only a few years ago, "don't let the bed bugs bite" seemed an archaic way to wish someone a restful sleep. Now, it's a legitimate concern. Read on to discover how a tiny bug became a major problem for our city.
1880s in England - 75% of homes are infested with bed bugs. Although there is no data for Toronto, the bed bug problem is likely comparable. If the current infestation is left untreated, a similar percentage of homes could become infected.
1940s and 1950s - Pesticides, in conjunction with concerted efforts on the part of governments, essentially eradicate bed bugs as a pest in Western countries.
1970s - DDT use becomes increasingly restricted in Canada. In the 1980s, it is outright banned. A decline in DDT use has been suggested as the cause of the bed bug resurgence. However, bed bugs were showing signs of resistance to DDT as early as 1947.
1995 - British officials begin to see rising rates of bed bug infestations.
pre-2003 - Bed bug complaints to Toronto city officials are "sporadic and mild."
2003 - 46 reports of bed bugs are made to Toronto Public Health. Toronto pest control companies make 1,300 treatments.
2005 - 197 requests are made to Toronto Public Health for help dealing with bed bugs.
2006 - The number of reports made to Toronto Public Health drops slightly to 147. Maciej Ceglowski, a Romanian, creates bedbugregistry.com after being bitten by bed bugs in San Francisco. Toronto is one of seven North American cities that Ceglowski includes on his site.
November 12, 2007 - Councillor Paula Fletcher argues bed bugs should be declared a "health hazard." In response, the Board of Health requests the Medical Officer of Health prepare a report on bed bugs.
2007 - One unnamed pest control company reports to Woodgreen Community Services that they made 4,800 treatments in 2007.
February 2008 - The Board of Health recommends that Toronto should launch an action committee against bed bugs.
March 2008 - Toronto's Bed Bug action committee launches. In April, it is renamed the Toronto Bed Bug Project.
March 2008 - October 2008 - 1,500 bed bug reports are made to Toronto Public Health.
November 12, 2008 - The Medical Officer of Health releases a report on the status of the infestation. The report suggests that although progress has been made, more work needs to be done to create a coordinated response. Funding to help vulnerable groups is recommended.
February 2009 - A pilot project chooses five apartment buildings, including a tower in St. James Town, to test eradication and control methods.
November 3, 2009 - Toronto Public Health and the Bed Bug Project report that more work and dedicated funding is needed to fight the growing bed bug problem.
November 19, 2009 - Woodgreen Community Services releases its encyclopedic report on bed bugs, "Bed Bugs Are Back: Are We Ready?" Their answer is a definitive, "No." Without treatment, the report argues that bed bugs could become endemic in homes, offices, schools, movie theatres and public transit.
March 30, 2010 - The Toronto Star's map of bedbug infestations in 2009 lets you try to figure out which areas of the city are free from bed bugs. Hint: very few of them.
June 3, 2010 - MPP Mike Colle introduces the Renters Right to Know Act in the provincial parliament. If it passes, it will force all landlords to disclose to potential tenants whether or not the residence has had any problems with bed bugs in the last five years.
June 11, 2010 - William Osler Health Centre in Etobicoke fights an outbreak.
July 9, 2010 - Caboto Terrace, a seniors' residence, gets itchy.
July 13, 2010 - Insight Pharmaceuticals puts Toronto as number three on their list of North American cities most infested with bed bugs.
July 16, 2010 - Bed bugs bite the browsers at the Toronto Reference Library. The Yorkville and Parliament branches also report bed bugs.
July 31, 2010 - Calls made in 2010 to Toronto Public Health about bed bugs have already reached 1,076.
August 24, 2010 - MPP Mike Colle announces a bed bug summit at Queen's Park will be held on September 29. Music writer Helen Spitzer comes back from a screening of Scott Pilgrim at the Scotiabank Theatre with what looks like bed bug bites. After getting the runaround with Cineplex's phone system, she tells her friend (and Twitter user) James Rocchi about her concerns.
August 30, 2010 - James Rocchi tweets "Bad, Bad news from Toronto re: #TIFF10: Torontonian Friend got, yes, bedbugs at the Scotiabank -- aka where all press screenings are." Cameron Bailey and Cineplex fight back to ensure the resulting brouhaha does not disrupt the fest.
The future? - With no magic bullet to defeat the critters, and a still-evolving public response, the infestation looks like it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Need more information, trying to figure out whether you have bed bugs, and wondering how to get rid of them? Woodgreen Community Services has produced this helpful guide. And contact Toronto Public Health to report any bed bug problems.
Lead image from Wikimedia Commons. Second by mandrs in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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Diatomaceous earth is a fine white powder, made from the ground up fossilized remains of diatoms, a kind of sea algae. The edges of each grain of powder are so sharp that they make tiny cuts in the hard exoskeleton of any insect upon contact, causing the insect to dehydrate and die within a matter of hours. Since the action is physical, insects don’t build up a resistance.
For fleas on pets pour some of the powder into your hands and rub it all over your dog or cat or gerbil or even birds (it works great for those microscopic red mites that attack the legs of pet birds). Some of the powder will fall off where the animal sleeps, killing fleas in the bedding. You might want to repeat this a few times, two or three days apart, until all fleas are gone. And again in a few weeks in case new eggs have hatched that survived the original powdering.
For bedbugs, dust the bed frame and the mattress, under the bed and around the bed, including cracks in the floor and where the wall meets the floor. You can also dust the carpet and vacuum it all up a few days later when the job is done.
For cockroaches in the kitchen, dust the floor and the cupboards, corners and cracks, under the sink, behind the stove. Even sprinkle some in the garbage can. For ants, same idea, but include window and door sills.
For silverfish, sprinkle some in the tub or shower overnight.
For slugs and snails in your flowerbeds or vegetable garden, sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around your plants and even on them. (Though still manually remove the beasties first, as diatomaceous earth is not selective, and will also kill the crickets that chirp so beautifully and the ladybugs that eat unwanted aphids. Reapply after rain.)
If you’ve got an infestation of houseflies, you can sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the windows or counters where they hang out. Mosquitoes too; if you can get them to land in it, problem solved. And I see no reason why it shouldn’t work on head lice, should your child come home inflicted. Just rub some into the scalp and repeat as needed.
If you move into the wrong apartment building they will find you from neighboring units.
And even if you dust your apt and get rid of them, they come back from neighboring units.
The only permanent solution is to move out and trash all your belongings.
although bed bugs are not selective based on the toronto star map you see that more of them are reported in crapier parts of the city. having seen how people live there i am not surprised - junk overflowing from balconies. while the bed bugs have nothing to do with cleanness and neatness of the place having a clean and neat place makes it much, much easier to kill them.
good thing i don't take subway anymore. you can get all sorts of things from there - not only bed bugs.
it will be interesting to see what happens for TIFF. I am keeping alert and will be careful when i get back home.
Same with the subway trains, streetcars, and buses. IF they are left outdoors on a hot summer day with the engines off, A/C off, and windows closed. Usually, the time out of service between the rush hours, or weekends, is enough. If they are inside the carhouse or garages, then they would not get above 43°. But if the vehicles are rotated in and out of service outdoors, that should do the job.
So you are incorrect about bed bugs on the subway, but still they could be on your fellow human's clothing in waiting rooms, emergency rooms, your friend's place, etc..
- regular and thorough house cleaning, especially vacuuming at least once a week (make sure to get baseboards and electrical outlets)
- keep bedroom really minimal, and buy bug-proof mattress & box-spring covers
- minimize clutter throughout your home (which is a great opportunity to get rid of stuff you really don't need anyway)
- call a pest-control company, preferably one that uses more natural methods like steam and diatomaceous earth treatments
- don't worry too much, they are just little bugs and we have to share this earth with them sometimes. Try to focus on some relaxing activities while you go through this, and if you can, keep a sense of humour about it.
:)
The fact they let the dogs out (woof) to detect for infestations in the rooms of G20 delegates should be indicative of how big this problem has become and how seriously it should be tackled. This is not the time - nor the place - for a 'sense of humour'.
They're everywhere people who live in apartment buildings spend any good amount of time, and the TTC see's 1.5 million passengers a day.
I feel bad for landlords because it's a huge challenge for them. However, too many landlords neglect to recognize how serious a problem bed bugs are. Bedbugregistry is filled with reports from people who say their landlords lie about the extent of infestations in the building, refuse to pay for treatments even if they're legally obligated to, or hire a fly-by-night amateur exterminator who does a quick spray, suggesting that because a unit was sprayed everything is now fine.
Do you really think I'm saying bed bugs are a happy situation? Read my posts.
I'm calling for the overinflated panic to settle down, and for people to breath, try to keep a sense of humour, and not worry too much - with time and patience you can deal with bedbugs. I'm offering optimism that's all.
Peace.
They brought in bedbug sniffing dogs and found nothing whatsoever.
You probably picked them up when you were with that hooker at the Super 8 on Spadina.
Way to go, dipsh*t. Thanks for starting a baseless rumour.
And the bugs would have made their way deep into the seats, so unless the theater disassembled all the seats (which they likely couldn't have done in the limited time they had available) they just had a pointless cursory inspection by a dog of a gigantic theatre which is more to placate the press than it is an effective way to detect and treat bedbugs.
Its all a show. Bedbugs are likely in the theaters, but they're likely in the TTC too just because so many people pass through there everyday.
Also bedbugs don't usually dislodge until you've stopped moving and its dark. They have eyes and they don't usually operate in the light. The theatre is a prime place for bedbugs to be found.
I sprayed my bed so many times, but they still come bed and bite me.
I had bed bugs for almost a year and finally got rid of them.
Sometimes, I can still feel them crawling my legs at night
Problem is that I’m sensitive to these bites. The next day, I was so itchy.
My whole body was full of red itchy scares. Terrible
Here is my advice when you have bed bugs:
Don’t throw away your mattress immediately; otherwise someone else can get bed bugs.
1. Buy 3 cans of bed bug spray (you really need that)
2. Spray your mattress
3. Seal your mattress with thick plastic mattress cover
(must NOT have any holes, otherwise they can get in and bit you again)
4. Find the bed bugs in your bed frame and kill them
5. Spray your bed frame every day for at least 1 week
6. Wash your bed sheets and blankets with HOT water
7. Wash all your clothes with HOT water
8. Dry your clothes in heater (heat can kill bed bugs)
9. After cleaning, put your cloths in a plastic bag with air zip
10. Put your bags of cloths in the middle of your house
These are just the basic steps, bed bugs can still hide in the holes and cracks of your wall.
There is more than I can write here, but not enough space here
Interesting perspective on this blog:
http://bed-bugs-toronto.blogspot.com/
http://www.torontoexterminator.ca
This building is horrible place infested in all kind bugs, especially bed bugs. The ladlord doesn't care about the tenants. He treats the building once a month and uses amonia to kill bugs.
I realized this problem the first day I moved in and when I told him he said that I might have brought them with me.
Saty away of this place.
Toronto, ON M5B
Found 1 report:
Submitted by "StupidlyBitten" on 09/30/2010
I, unfortunately, was diagnosed with a serious health issue, and as such needed to take quite sometime to get this under control, as mandated by my doctor. I had to leave my job, and as a consequence could not afford to pay my rent anymore. That led me to Mary's Emergency Shelter in Toronto at 70 Gerrard Street East. After being there for approx. 2 months, I started to recieve the odd bite here and there. Not thinking too much about it, (I've seen spiders in the room, and being summer, it could have been mosquitos), I did not complain to staff. The bites were exactly like the ones posted on your website, and were so itchy...they left scars. I have heard of bed bugs, but hey Mary's home can't be infested as once a month they have exterminators in for routine maintenance, and inspection, just incase.
When I spotted a bug approx. 1 month ago, I had no idea what is was. I tried to kill it, but it took a few "beatings" with my shoe to do it in. Again, not knowing exactly what I was dealing with, I just flushed the critter down the toilet. Then, lo and behold, it was time for the routine extermination, and inspection day. All shelter residence had to leave for the better part of the day, while they supposably "sprayed". I stayed behind in my room to to see exactly what went on once a month. What went on? Absolutely nothing. Nada. The staff sat around talking about all the residences, laughing, eating; you get the picture. I always suspected that the day of extermination was a farce, but I had to find out for my self. Shortly thereafter, a new resident complained that she was being bitten by bed bugs. Staff found a way to discharge her from the premises, blaming her for getting the bites elsewhere. Again, no extermination done. Having said all that, I had an overnight at a friends house at the time that I had been bitten. And I feel so badly that I could have brought one into thier home. I am stressed. I have since left the shelter, and I reside with the said friend. I left all my belongings behind at the shelter. Everything. And when you do not own much, it is a little disheartening. However, since i found your website and educated myself,(thank you), I am happy that I left everything! I told my friend what I experienced ie. the bites, the bug, your website, and he is not too worried. He feels that we should have been bitten by now. I am happy to state, that I haven't been bitten since I left the shelter, but I still worry. All his furniture is wood, and he lives in a split basment, freestanding home. The basement is full of wood beams. I inspected his mattress, and knock on wood (pun intended), nothing thus far. It has been approx. 2 weeks since I left the shelter and moved in to his home. I know that we are not out of the woods yet, (pun intended again *Nervously laughs).
Please be warry if you are sent to Mary's Home Emergency Shelter, Toronto ON; I am sure they are infested, and are turning a blind eye.
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Cold temps they seem to handle with greater ease as some researchers have tested freezing the bugs for specific periods of time when the temp remained consistently cold and yet they thawed out and came to after.
It has to be a really sudden and downright cold temp to work on them. Pros use Cyronite or rapid freeze though I question how well this works.
Steam is your best friend. Large nozzle, dry vapour, no less then 240 where the steam comes out.
www.mdpestcontrol.ca
A properly trained and certified bed bug dog team can provide an answer to a bed bug question quickly and with close to 100% certainty.
I started a blog to help get the message out and I encourage people to visit and leave their comments and if you have content or pictures to add let me know and I will certainly make it into a new post. Email is: ipcpardons@hotmail.com
In this link you fin the opposite claim. Who is wrong?
"bed bugs can not be killed by UV lights"
http://answers.gaiam.com/answers/9381/product/06-0704/cleanwave-uv-c-sanitizing-wand-questions-answers/questions.htm?page=2
TCHC is crawling allover with bedbugs
He constantly kept preaching about this. I am going to send
this post to him. Pretty sure he'll have a great read. I appreciate you for sharing!
www.EnvironmentalPestControl.ca