Manitoba’s fight against bed bugs

They crawled into an MTS office in Fort Rouge this week, and crept into the men’s locker room of Granny’s Poultry in Transcona, last month.  

“We took all the lockers out and we took all the steps neccessary to eradicate the problem which has been resolved for over a month now,” said Craig Evans of Granny’s Poultry.  

Bed bugs are becoming more common in Manitoba.  

After learning pest control companies were flying in dogs to sniff out the creepy crawlies because there were no local animals who could do the same, Valerie Arpin took a trip to Florida to have her dog Patches trained.  

“There isn’t anyone in this city, that doesn’t know someone who hasn’t been affected by the bugs, they are everywhere,” said Arpin. 

Since the problem is so widespread, Manitoba launched a bed bug strategy this past spring. 

The strategy encourages residents to buy mattress and box spring covers, go online and report bed bug sightings, and to be vigilant. 

Three to four times a week Manitoba Housing units use heat as their main weapon to combat the bed bugs. 

A static heat container receives contaminated household belongings. The items are heated to 140-degrees, killing the bedbugs.   

Every 45 days the Manitoba Housing pest control team visit suites that have had problems before. Dave Funk of Manitoba Housing says they’ve been able to reduce bed bug populations, but because more people are looking more calls are coming in. 

“In a perfect world, we will get rid of bed bugs, but it’s probably not realistic. I think we can get them down to a more manageable level,” said Funk. 

Bed bug complaints, by building type