BedBugCentral.com
Bed bugs, known for their bites that leave red, itchy welts, do not carry disease but are notoriously difficult to get rid of.
New York City Department of Health employees are biting mad about a bed bug infestation at the department’s Long Island City office building.
After frantic reports of sightings over the past several weeks, higher-ups notified employees in an email late Tuesday night that live bug colonies had been found on the tower’s 11th floor.
“Although in the past we have found individual bed bugs, we have for the first time in the past week found a group of bed bugs living in one area of the 11th floor of the building,” the message read.
It was the first official acknowledgement to staff of the scourge, which has been going on for “several weeks” and includes bug sightings on at least three floors, sources complained.
The DOH confirmed that “a group of bed bugs” had been found in “one area of one floor,” and said steps were being taken to address the problem, “including conducting additional inspections, vacuuming, steam-cleaning and applying small amounts of pesticide.”
“Everyone is freaking out and can’t stop talking about it,” a frustrated employee griped to the Daily News. “We had to sit through an hourlong presentation on bed bugs yesterday, but they weren’t really addressing any concerns. We kept asking why they didn’t clean the whole floor.”
Employees were given copies of the department’s own bed bug information pamphlet on Wednesday and told to declutter their desks and put their belongings in plastic bags, the source said. Individuals were notified if bugs had been found near their workspace.
