Coun. Jaimie McEvoy believes a regional approach is needed to address the growing problem of bedbugs.
"It's enough to drive you buggy," he said.
With bedbugs becoming a problem throughout the region, McEvoy believes a coordinated approach is needed to tackle the issue.
"I think it's a health issue," he said. "I think it needs coordination, if not at a regional level, then at a provincial level. You can't solve it city by city. I think the situation can be improved and people can be protected."
McEvoy doesn't believe people have enough information to identify bedbugs or deal with them when they're found.
"If you only have cockroaches, you are lucky," he said. "It is a big emotional strain if you have bedbugs."
McEvoy noted that bedbugs have gotten so bad in New York City that it formed a bedbug task force.
According to McEvoy, the Bedbug Registry website has 19,444 bedbug reports for Vancouver, including 180 reports in New Westminster.
McEvoy believes that Fraser Health may be the organization to take on the bedbug issue. He intends to present a motion to city council asking the health authority to do more.
"It's often seen as a nuisance. It's a nuisance - no one likes to be bitten," he said. "Bedbug bites can lead to infection. It has also been found they can carry bacteria."
McEvoy is the director of the Hospitality Project, which has received an increasing number of bedbug complaints.
"They're in apartments, hotels, hospitals, and now they're in our libraries," he said.
The New Westminster Public Library closed for a day earlier this week after one live and several dead bedbugs were discovered in books. A pest control company was hired to deal with the matter.
Although libraries may need to make some changes, such as reducing the use of fabric on chairs and other seating, McEvoy feels the public has little to worry about at the local library.
"They come out to eat at night. That's why they're called bedbugs," he said. "There's nothing there for them to eat at night. Bedbugs in libraries are typically found dead. There are lots of incidents on record, but not many actual infestations."
Given that the library had 603,000 visits last year and loaned 844,000 items, McEvoy said one live bedbug is not a surprise, but it also shows that precautions will need to be taken permanently.
Queensborough resident Brigette Mayer heard about the library closure and suggested her husband check his library books for bedbugs. He found what he believes are bedbug eggs in one of his library books.
"He was fairly certain there were eggs in the back of the book," she said. "He has removed the book from our house."
The book, which is safely sealed in a baggie, will be returned to the library. The couple contacted a pest control company, which said the entire house would need to be fumigated and all people and animals would have to leave the premises for four to six hours.
"Twelve-hundred dollars was the quote we got from the pest control company," Mayer said. "That is an exorbitant amount of money that we don't have."
The couple has chosen to wash their linens and do a thorough vacuuming of their bed and home.
They saw no evidence of bedbugs, other than what appeared to be eggs in the library book.
"We have vetoed books from the library coming into this house," Mayer said. "It's a shame. We are both fans of public libraries. The risk involved is too high."
McEvoy said anyone can get bedbugs, from a typical rental apartment to highend condos and homes.
"The problem goes right across Canada," he noted. "They've been found in libraries in Burnaby, Toronto, three libraries in Edmonton."
McEvoy said bedbugs can be hard to control, particularly when landlords operating apartments don't know how to deal with the problem properly or are slow to respond.
"There is a stigma," he said. "I think some report them to their landlord. Many landlords try to do something about it. Some don't."
McEvoy believes that "old-fashioned" methods of dealing with bedbugs, such as chemicals, are less effective than heat treatments that kill bedbugs and their eggs.
"They are in your vents, they are in your ducts, they are in unreachable areas," he noted.
