Has Toronto’s bed bug problem gotten any better?
By Melissa Wilson
OpenFile Toronto
February 13, 2012
Bed bugs took over the City of Toronto in 2010. The apple-seed-sized terrors had actually been creeping back into bed with the city (and pretty much every major metropolis in the world) since about ten years earlier, replicating like vampiric bunnies, but awareness reached a fever pitch in the summer and fall of 2010, with news reports chronicling the problem seeming to pop up every other day, and reports of bed bugs popping up in libraries, movie theatres, hospitals and even on the TTC.
Eventually, the reports dwindled and the conversations turned, but Toronto’s bed bug problem didn’t go away with the headlines. By many accounts, it’s actually gotten much worse. Despite the quiet, the question on Torontonians’ minds is (or should be): What’s going on with the city’s bed bugs?
According to Tracy Leach, manager of the Toronto Public Health Bed Bug Team (launched in 2011 with $1,216,518 of one-time funding from the Province of Ontario), it’s impossible to measure if the problem is worse or not, because of unknowns of reporting, but her team “definitely hasn’t seen a decrease in work.”
Anecdotally speaking, though, the bed bug bonanza only increased since the media hoopla in 2010. “It’s definitely getting worse,” says Dan McCabe, vice president of Magical Pest Control, one of the city’s largest pest control companies. “We do about 150 bed bug jobs a day in the GTA, mostly in Toronto. A few years ago, it was half that.”
The City of Toronto’s Bed Bug Project, launched in mid-2008, also records the number of calls received regarding bed bugs, which is another indicator. In 2009, 3,245 calls were received, and in 2010, 4,818 calls were received (note that these numbers are significantly higher than those circulating in other media reports). In 2011, that number sat at 3,838. Of course, these numbers must be taken with a grain of salt, since they represent all inquiries, not just infestations. The spike in 2010 could be explained by the increased media attention (and, let’s face it, increased paranoia).
Regardless, the problem hasn’t gone away.
In the latter half of 2011 (the first year there was significant, dedicated funding for bed bug control activities, thanks to the Province) the Bed Bug Team assessed 4,146 units, of which about a quarter had bed bugs. The BBT consists of Leach plus three public health nurses, six public health inspectors. This comprehensive approach is key, says Leach, because the inspectors deal with the landlords and pest control, whereas the nurses assist the residents (The BBT currently focuses specifically on vulnerable clients, those lacking the physical or mental capacity to deal with a bed bug infestation effectively) with any health issues they might be facing, and assist them in moving forward bed bug free.
This focus on the city’s vulnerable is crucial, according to Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher, a longtime advocate of bed bug control activities. “Most able-bodied people can manage bed bugs. It’ll cost some money, and the prep is a pain, but we can do it,” she says, noting that it’s much easier to get rid of bed bugs before they establish a full-blown infestation. “But there are people who simply cannot. Bed bugs don’t discriminate; anyone can get them. But they establish themselves with vulnerable people, and then travel within the building to other units.”
Unfortunately, the one-time funding from the Province is set to expire on March 31, 2012 (excluding funding for the three nurses, which is base funding), and while the Board of Health and Toronto City Council have requested the Province extend the funding, it’s not yet clear if that will happen. According to Leach, if the funding isn’t renewed, the BBT would have to stop taking calls almost immediately, in order to complete the backlog of requests before the money runs out.
And if the funding isn’t renewed? According to Fletcher, it wouldn’t be long before the City will be “overrun with bed bugs.”
Fletcher also thinks that it’s time to hold building managers and landlords more accountable for the issue. “They’ve gotten off pretty easy up until now,” she says. “In one case we saw, there were bed bug feces and casings in the hallways. Buildings shouldn’t be allowed to be infested by bed bugs.”
At a City Council meeting held February 6, a motion was carried to investigate the possibility of hosting a publicly accessible database on the City’s website to track and monitor infestations. “To shame the landlords,” says Fletcher. (There’s already a DIY way to track infestations at BedBugRegistry.com, which has currently logged over 2,000 complaints for Toronto.)
McCabe, Fletcher and Leach all overwhelmingly agreed that the key to beating bed bugs is to be aware of the signs of a potential problem (two telltale signs are bite marks and/or blood spots on your pillows, sheets and mattress), and to call a licensed professional immediately if you think you have bed bugs. All three stressed the importance of not trying to deal with it by yourself.
So, if the power to defeat them is knowledge, it’s dangerous that the bed bug conversation in Toronto has quieted. Any number of things could explain the drop in interest, but McCabe suspects it just that Torontonians’ attention has been pointed elsewhere. “The political stuff that’s going on at City Hall right now is a lot more interesting.”
Melissa Wilson 