Bed Bug Infestations
Annette Accurso, Housing Code Specialist, City of Middletown, Community Revitalization annettea@cityofmiddletown.org PH 513-425-7943 Fax 513-425-7921 asks:
More and more incidents are arising regarding bed bug infestation. We now must enforce nuisance abatement in a new way regarding proper packaging of discarded mattresses and furniture. However, my questions are,
1. What departments and/or agencies work in conjunction with code enforcement to address the dwellings regarding infestation?
2. Are there policies implemented to address the infestation first to minimize risk of contamination for the maintenance inspectors?
3. Are there task force capabilities being formed or currently implementing comprehensive control measures to better bring the problem of infestation under control?
How bed bugs are handled varies from jurisdiction to jurisdicition. In Greater Columbus, Columbus Code Enforcement handles bed bug complaints in the City, and the Franklin County Board of Health handles them in the suburbs. In some communities, the haelth department will handle bed bug complaints, but this varies with the department, because bed bugs are not a disease vector. One thing that we have done here is to partner closely with Columbus Code so that we are sending a consistent message to landlords who have properties in the city and the suburbs. We also bring in social service agencies such as HUD when we can, especially for Section 8 properties.
The issue of disposed furniture is one that we have not found a satisfactory answer for. Our solid waste regualtion requires everything to be contained in a dumpster, but that rarely happens. We are considering adding a "destruct clause" to our regulations, because it is very important for discarded furrniture to be destroyed in some way. Probably 50% of our multi-family infestations come from furniture that has been scrounged from the curb or dumpster. Cutting the covers, smashing the frames, or spray painting helps to deter dumpster divers and people who operate second hand stores from taking this stuff.
There are guidelines for apartment maintenance people. The Columbus Apt Association has some, and we have som eon our website, centralohiobedbugs.org. I don't know if it is possible to mandate bed bug training for maintenance staff.
As far as bed bug task forces - there is on in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, One that is getting started in Cleveland, and ours here in Greater Columbus, Task Forces are a great way for local agencies to coordinate their efforts on the bed bug problem, but some agency in the community has to be willing to take the lead and establish the task force. The State of Ohio also has a bed bug working group, which is to develop some sort of strategy concerning bed bugs for the Governor
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We have a big problem in Clark County we bed bugs; however, in my area, Springfield Township, it has been very limited. Since Township authority is limited in these matters, we work closely with Health Department and have great success with them in all infestation cases; fleas, bed bugs, etc.
The Combined Health Dept. has established a "task force" to deal with issues like this, but more for general hoarding issues.
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