By Carolyn Young
Caitlin Brown still has nightmares about the bedbugs that infested her apartment on Bell Street in August. At first, she thought she had a rash from a new detergent on her sheets or clothes. When she pulled off her bed sheets to throw them in the wash, large amounts of bedbugs were tucked into the crevices of her mattress.
This experience has become increasingly common in the last year as bedbugs have begun cropping up in cities across Canada. Ottawa is no exception, and David Saunders, owner of Paramount Pest Control, says bedbugs have become “the new cockroach.”
Saunders said that on one day in November, he received nine calls about bedbugs, whereas a year ago at the same time he says there would have been none.
“I would say the number of calls I get has increased at least five times in the last year,” he says.
Jeff Dawson, a Carleton University biology professor and entomologist, says he too has recognized a resurgence of bedbugs. He thinks this increase in numbers could potentially be occurring for two reasons.
“It is becoming easier and cheaper to travel, meaning we spend more time in hotels and hostels and on planes,” he says. “Anywhere there is a lot of turnover, people can pick up bedbugs and bring them home in their suitcase.”
More importantly, Dawson says a change in types of pesticides used to control pest populations has also caused their re-emergence.
“In the 1950s and 60s, we used to just fog the entire home with DDT or other harmful pesticides if there was a problem and it would kill everything,” he says. “Now, there has been a movement toward eco-friendly procedures that target only one type of insect and leave others.”
Dawson compares this to using a fly swatter instead of a bulldozer. Older pesticides essentially “bulldozed the entire home to clean it, new pesticides act as a fly swatter, and choose their targets,” he says.
Saunders adds this problem is heightened due to a lack of education surrounding bedbugs, as people often mistake the bug bites and treat for another type of pest.
“People will do a flea treatment and when it doesn’t seem to work, they just try it again,” he says. “The bedbug population will grow because the aerosol will attract them to other rooms.”
While bedbugs don’t transmit diseases, Dawson says the biggest problem is the “psychological warfare they wage on people.”
Brown says she remembers waking up and seeing a few bugs on her bed. After killing them, she was so afraid that she would take refuge on her leather loveseat, “curled up in the fetal position.”
She has bought new mattresses but hasn’t removed their plastic encasing yet.
Getting rid of the bugs can be expensive. Saunders says treatment can range from $400 to $800 for a one or two bedroom apartment. And it usually has to be repeated, depending on the degree of the infestation.
Dawson says the problem will probably never go away, but could be better controlled in the future.
“There are new pesticides coming out all the time,” he says. “And before that, we have to make sure we’re being cautious travelers.”
He suggests unpacking luggage in the laundry room, washing clothes immediately when you arrive home, and inspecting your bag when you arrive and depart.
Saunders recommends regular inspections of the mattress, box spring, and surrounding area to catch the infestation at an early stage.