Halifax 7th on list of top bedbug cities – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Halifax has made an unpopular top 10 list, ranking seventh on Orkin Canadas top Canadian bedbug cities.

The top 10 cities are:

1. Toronto

2. Winnipeg

3. Vancouver

4. Ottawa

5. St. Johns

6. Edmonton

7. Halifax

8. Sudbury

9. Scarborough

10. Calgary

Summer travellers seeking to avoid the tiny, biting, hitchhiking critters might do well to take precautions in public places, said Orkin Canada Halifax branch manager John Zinck.

A tip for travel is not to unpack clothes at the hotel and avoid using hotel clothing storage such as dressers. Put your suitcase in the bathtub or on the coffee table, Zinck said.

When you return from travels, leave your suitcase in the garage and launder all your clothes.

Bedbugs arent just for those bitten by the travel bug. Urban areas are often hardest hit but the company does get reports from towns around Nova Scotia also.

On the average day in Halifax, there could be 75 treatments by various pest control companies, Zinck said. Most bedbug treatments are going on in multi-story apartments or condo buildings.

Dwellings and structures frequented by students and seniors may be more likely to be afflicted with bedbugs. Social habits of visiting friends can lead to inadvertently importing the common bedbugs that arent picky about where they land next, he said.

If the population gets big, theyll go to your apartment if theres an adjoining wall, he said.

The problem with bed bugs is they dont have a preference.

Despite their name the bugs can go where people go: offices, cinemas, transit, even medical clinics. They can easily hitch rides on clothing, books and in bags.

Oval-shaped insects measuring 6-10mm, they swell after sucking blood. One pregnant female can spawn tens of thousands of offspring in six months.

One of biggest things that leads to a problem is people picking up furniture, especially upholstered furniture, off the side of the road.

Clutter is the friend of bedbugs, giving the creatures ample places to avoid detection.

Elderly residents may be particularly vulnerable, with bedbugs spreading quickly from apartment to apartment, to laundry room to taxi and even the ambulance.

He recalled a few Halifax buildings where multiple apartments had bedbug issues.

One couple didnt realize their home was infested despite blood-like stains on the walls left by bedbugs. In another incident, a lady came to the door and said she didnt have a problem.

They were literally crawling down her face. We got in the apartment and there were tens of thousands in there, he said.

Bedbugs are a nuiscance for taxpayers also. A year ago, the province pumped $1.6 million into pest eradication in Metro Halifax.

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Halifax 7th on list of top bedbug cities - TheChronicleHerald.ca