Report: New Bedford bank still battling bedbugs

Southcoast Today (2014) explained,
NEW BEDFORD — Four months after a bedbug infestation was first reported at the Santander Bank building at the bottom of Union Street, the pests were detected again in June, according to documents obtained by The Standard-Times.

Health Department officials say Santander is doing what it can to contain the problem. Director Brenda Weis said the department inspected there in January and June, finding no evidence that it's not a safe place to work.

According to documents obtained through a freedom of information request, bank officials told health inspectors that bugs had been spotted in cubicle walls during a June 21 inspection, particularly on the third floor, which houses a Santander call center.

"I believe that Santander"» is doing everything possible to eradicate this issue to the absolute best of their ability," wrote city sanitarian Derek Macedo in an incident report.

Santander Bank declined to comment for the story.

Long and brown with a flat, oval-shaped body, the common bed bug is about the size of an apple seed, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Giving off an odor described as "musty-sweetish," bedbugs feed on blood, causing itchy bites but they are not known to transmit disease.
Documents show that the bank first brought in exterminators to spray in January, offering 110 employees the chance for their homes to be treated, 44 of whom accepted. Subsequent inspections revealed no bedbugs, exterminator reports show, though activity was detected at rodent bait stations in March and July.

In April and June, complaints were logged with the Health Department. One referred to "people bringing bedbugs from this bank," another to a bank employee bringing bedbugs to her apartment.

The bank at 128 Union St. is being monitored by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"It is an ongoing OSHA investigation in which the company has been making efforts to correct the issue and the agency is monitoring their progress," said OSHA spokesman Andre Bowser in an email.

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http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140719/NEWS/407190320/-1/NEWS01

Bed bugs infest Honolulu homeless shelter

WSMV (2014) explained,

Bed bugs.

Just the thought of them make you itch.

But those staying at a Honolulu homeless shelter say it's not just their minds playing tricks on them.  They got bite marks to prove it.

"Oh yeah I got bite all over my legs.  Lotta cuts over here, cuts over there. It's really infested in there,” said Michael Laimana pointing at his legs.

Laimana is one of 150 people who stay at the shelter each night.  He says his bed isn't the only one with a pest problem.

A mother shared photos of her 3-year-old covered with red marks that she says are bed bug bites.

Connie Mitchell, the Executive Director at the Institute for Human Services, admits there is a problem. But she says it's almost impossible to prevent with the amount of traffic in and out of the emergency shelter.

"We definitely take it seriously. We have regular fumigation going on and we also have protocols that we follow on a daily basis as well as when we actually find that there's some kind of infestation with a particular bunk," said Mitchell.

There was a recent infestation at Oahu Community Correctional Center and some of Hawaii's finest hotels have had reports of them. So Mitchell says a problem at a homeless shelter is almost inevitable.

 "Sometimes, with the folks that do come in, they're bringing them in their belongings a lot of the time if they're coming from the street. So it's very challenging to keep it in control,” Mitchell said.

The shelter says they get reports of the pests about twice a week.  But those staying there say they see them every night.

"I would say like 4 or 5 in the night," Laimana said.

The ongoing problem adds yet another wrinkle to the city's push to get people off of the streets and into shelters.

"It kind of is a really good illustration of some of the challenges that we have in running a shelter and being a safety net for the community," Mitchell said.

Mitchell says it's impossible to tent the shelter because the building is too large and the problem is limited to just one level where everyone sleeps.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/25912042/bed-bugs-infest-honolulu-homeless-shelter