World, Bed Bug Registry Map – Infestation Reports

As bedbugs continue their bloodsucking scourge on Toronto currently targeting Ryerson University residences a new U.S. study shows that natural fungus is an effective way of killing the critters.

There are eight confirmed cases of bedbugs at Ryerson, with most students living at the International Living and Learning Centre (ILLC) and a few in the Pitman Hall residence.

The rooms are being carefully treated by pest control experts, said Chad Nuttall, manager of student housing services at the university. They will inspect and reinspect the rooms until they are bedbug-free.

Affected students have been relocated to a temporary space in the ILLC while their rooms are treated, which usually takes two weeks but can be longer depending on the severity of the situation.

Our students are our top priority and we are working very hard to resolve this issue for them and have them back into their dorms as soon as possible, Nuttall said.

The university provides information to students and parents on bed bug prevention during parent sessions, Nuttall said.

But new research could end the battle against bedbugs. According to a team of entomologists at Penn State University, the parasites have met their match in a fungus called Beauveria bassiana, which grows naturally in soils and causes disease in insects.

As part of the study, published in the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, researchers used paper and cotton jersey, commonly used in bedsheets. On one set they sprayed fungal spores, a biopesticide, and on the other blank oil.

After the surfaces were dry, bedbugs were added for one hour.

All the bugs exposed to the biopesticide died within five days. More importantly, infected bugs carried the fungal spores back to their hiding places, infecting nearly all of the other bugs.

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Fungus may take bite out of bedbugs

As bed bugs continue their blood-sucking scourge on Toronto currently targeting Ryerson University residences a new U.S. study shows that natural fungus is an effective way of killing the critters.

There are eight confirmed cases of the tiny critters at Ryerson, with most students living at the International Living and Learning Centre (ILLC) and a few in the Pitman Hall residence.

The rooms are being carefully treated by pest control experts right now, said Chad Nuttall, manager of Student Housing Services at the university. They will inspect and re-inspect the rooms until they are bed bug-free.

Affected students have been relocated to a temporary space in the ILLC while their rooms are treated, which usually takes about two weeks but can be longer depending on the severity of the situation.

Our students are our top priority and we are working very hard to resolve this issue for them and have them back into their dorms as soon as possible, said Nuttall.

He said the university provides information to students and parents on bed bug prevention during parent sessions. Also, fact sheets are distributed and students are told which items they can and cannot bring before arriving on campus.

But new research could end the battle against bed bugs. According to a team of entomologists at Penn State University, the parasites have met their match in a fungus called Beauveria bassiana, which grows naturally in soils and causes disease in insects.

As part of the study, published in the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, researchers took paper and cotton jersey, commonly used in bed sheets. On one set they sprayed fungal spores and on the other blank oil. After the surfaces were dry, bed bugs were added for one hour.

All the bugs exposed to the biopesticide died within five days. But more important, the infected bugs carried the fungal spores back to their hiding places, infecting nearly all the other bugs. This is key because they tend to live in hard-to-reach places, such as electrical plates, under loose wallpaper and behind baseboards.

They dont even need to be directly exposed, and thats something chemicals cannot do, said researcher Nina Jenkins in a media statement. If you have bedbugs in your house ... what you really want to know is if theyve all gone at the end of the treatment, and I think thats something that this technology could offer.

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Bed bug battles: Is fungus the next frontier?

All is not necessarily well that ends well life is rough, and sometimes the pieces are not easily picked up but we take what we can get, and so I am happy to tell you that Leo Wilton is on the mend and he has a place of his own.

He was living in a bachelor apartment last year when he got into a dispute with his landlord, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. A dispute?

His building was unsafe: bullets flying and bedbugs biting. He complained, more than once, and was promised that things would be cleaned up.

They were not.

So Leo, a man after my own heart, went on a rent strike. When his arrears reached $1,500 he was told to pay up or be evicted. He swallowed hard and ponied up an initial payment of $500. TCHC cashed his cheque and kicked him out anyway.

He ended up in a shelter, where a guy he did not know and had never met attacked him, with no warning, for no reason.

I first met Leo at an infirmary on Sherbourne St., and then again at Fudger House, when he was recuperating from injuries that almost killed him: a stab wound to the throat, three broken ribs, a broken nose and a brain hemorrhage.

Hes out of the hospital and in a new place now. I went to see him the other day. The gash has healed; you cant see the scar unless youre looking. His colour is back. His eyes are bright. He looks alive.

The new place? It is a bachelor apartment, freshly painted, with a new countertop and kitchen cabinets, better than his old place. Most of what he had, he left behind, but he does have a tiny table, two chairs, a lamp, a radio, a coffee maker, a bed, a small pot and a frying pan. He has had some help, and will get more, from his brother and sister, who live elsewhere in the GTA.

The apartment comes to him by way of Woodgreen. Leo said, When I first went to the shelter, they set me up with a housing worker. Hed mentioned this place back then. After the attack, he came to see me and he told me again about this place; there are only six vacancies a year.

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Fiorito: Evicted and stabbed at a shelter, Leo Wilton gets a second chance