Forum addresses rise in bed bug infestation
International travel is one reason why bed bugs are on the rise
Concern about the recent city-wide rise in bed bug infestations has led to the creation of a bed bug forum, coming to Etobicoke this Wednesday, April 2 at LAMP CHC. 
"You have a couple of generations who are not used to living with bed bugs," Reg Ayre, manager with the Healthy Environment Program at Toronto Public Health, told The Guardian. "Before the Second World War bed bugs were fairly common and people knew how to live with them and how to deal with them. Now you've got the situation where folks are having to learn to deal with them all over again."
The forum will feature speakers from Toronto Public Health, South Etobicoke Legal Clinic and Sam Bryks, Manager, Environmental Health at Housing Services Inc.
Ayre said the bed bug infestation is "a problem that's becoming a bit of a social problem." He says Toronto Public Health has been involved with setting up a Bed Bug Action Committee in order to deal with the issue and educate the public.
The rise in bed bug infestation is world-wide, he said, and the reason is the increase in international travel.
According to Ayre, another reason is the move away from very strong broad spectrum pesticides to more species-specific pesticides with lower residuals.
"In the old days, you'd spray for cockroaches and you'd kill off everything, these days you spray for cockroaches and you're just killing the cockroaches and I think that's why the bed bug is making a bit of a resurgence."
Ayre says Toronto Public Health is especially concerned for society's most vulnerable, specifically the elderly.
"When you get the bed bugs in the most vulnerable, it becomes a real difficult problem for them to deal with. You can imagine someone who is extremely frail and elderly who can't do the house cleaning they once were able to do, who can't do the laundry like they were once able to do."
Ayre said spraying with pesticides can be effective, if done correctly.
"You can't just go and spray and spray because bed bugs have a tendency to build a resistence to pesticides, they've been around since caveman days and they know how to avoid chemicals. "
According to Toronto Public Health, bed bugs have a one-year life span during which females can lay up to 200-400 eggs depending on temperature and food supply. Gestation is about 10 days.
The forum runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at LAMP CHC, 185 Fifth Street, Community Room. Light refreshments provided.
