Declare bedbugs a public-health threat: experts
Posted February 1, 2013 7:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WINNIPEG (NEWS1130) – A group of national experts is arguing that bedbugs should be considered a public-health threat even though the parasites don’t transmit disease.
Seven physicians and environmental health experts from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal have co-authored an academic paper on the subject in the most recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
They say Canadian cities could wind up with more tools at their disposal to curb the spread of the blood-sucking insects _ especially among disadvantaged, inner city residents _ by defining the problem as a health issue.
As recently as 15 years ago, bedbugs were all but unknown in North America.
But an increase in global travel and the phase-out of certain pesticides contributed to a meteoric rise in infestations over the past decade.
The authors of the paper, including Winnipeg entomologist Taz Stuart and University of Manitoba sociology professor Elizabeth Comack, say bedbugs can have negative health effects from allergic reactions and bacterial skin infections.
