By Thia James

Exterminators getting calls for bed bugs in PA

Jan 8, 2013 | 5:22 AM

Exterminators in Prince Albert are getting calls for bed bug infestations, but health officials are not seeing activity that’s any different than in recent years.

Doug Dahl, communication co-ordinator, Prince Albert Parkland Health Region said they get the odd call from people asking for advice on what to do about bed bugs.
“We’re not getting any different number of complaints than we’d normally get,” he said.

Infestations aren’t necessarily limited to one place or another, Dahl said.

But one exterminator who operates between April and November/December said he took a lot of service calls for bed bug infestations over the summer.

Gerry Fillmore, owner, Gerry’s Pest Control, is currently in California, but took his most recent call in October. “PA is loaded with bed bugs,” he said.

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“I started turning them [the calls] down because there were so many children in the houses. I didn’t want to start fumigating with children in the houses, so I turned a lot of business down for bed bugs,” he said.

Fillmore said he saw infestations in the east and west end of the city.

But Mike Mitchell, a senior technician at Tyrone Pest Control Services, said he hasn’t seen an increase in bed bug calls over last year. In a month, he gets five to 10 calls. And calls have increased over the last decade.

“It takes quite a while to sometimes determine that you actually do have a problem. So, you know, sometimes people don’t really notice them until they’ve had them for four to six months,” Mitchell said. This is typical of the residences he services.

Amanda Schuler of Poulin’s Pest Control said they’re also not seeing an increase in the number of calls in Prince Albert. Poulin’s service area includes Prince Albert, but it’s seeing the most activity in Saskatoon.

Saskatoon’s health authorities recently said that the bed bug population exploded in the last 10 to 15 years.

“We get calls for bed bugs every day, but not necessarily from PA,” Schuler said. In a month, Poulin’s Pest Control can get two to 30 calls for bed bug infestations in Prince Albert.

“The calls in PA don’t necessarily stick out,” she said.

Bed bugs are parasitic insects that strike mostly at night and suck the blood of sleeping victims. They survive by hiding in cracks and crevices of furniture and household fixtures. Outside of rashes that result from the bites, there are no major health risks associated with bed bugs.

Tyrone’s Mitchell says the best thing to do is to check your suitcases and clothing after you return home from a trip.
Poulin’s Schuler added that bed bugs are “hitchhikers”, so people can pick them up anywhere. “Drying their clothing on high heat when they come home for about a half an hour will kill any stage of a bed bug that they’ve picked up along the way.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames