Bed bugs bite shelters

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta homeless shelters have worked in recent months to rein in infestations of bed bugs before they spread.

Katheryn Preston, executive director of the Georgia Coalition to End Homelessness, compared the efforts to stopping occasional elementary-school outbreaks of head lice before they become a wider problem.

"It is something you want to get right on top of. And it is not real easy to eradicate them," Preston said.

Bed bugs have not been common in Atlanta homeless shelters, but the tiny, blood-sucking pests have invaded three downtown shelters in recent months, she said.

The Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness inspected the Salvation Army shelter on Luckie Street on Sept. 14 after a complaint by Chemeka Straughter, who was staying there with two children and is now staying with a friend. The county response noted the shelter was "very clean" and was being treated by a pest control company for bed bugs.

Preston declined to identify the other two affected shelters.

A spokesman for the Salvation Army said exterminators eliminated the bed bugs. But Fuquan Battle left a private family room at the shelter last Friday after complaining for nearly a month about bites he and his 7-year-old son suffered. The two came to the shelter in early September after Battle had been jobless for nearly a year.

"I noticed raised irritation on his skin," said Battle, who also experienced the itchy bites. "Then it went around to his chest and then on his back and both of his legs."

Information from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says bed bugs bites do not typically spread disease, but the parasites cause personal discomfort.

Major James Seiler, the Metro Atlanta Area Salvation Army commander, said the shelter had an outbreak in 2008 and another last May. Exterminators have inspected the shelter monthly since then and applied retreatment in September, he said.

Seiler said Battle's bedding and clothing were treated separately after his complaint.

Battle said the problem continued into October. He took his son to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding hospital on Sept. 19 and Oct. 9. Medical records show doctors treated him with topical treatments for bed bug bites.

"I started to question not only the problem with the bed bugs, but the [shelter] management as well," Battle said.

An Oct. 13 letter from the organization says it was unable to meet Battle's needs and recommended that he find accommodations elsewhere by Oct. 28.

Battle said he thinks he was asked to leave for pressing the issues of bed bugs and poor management.

Seiler said Battle was not asked to leave because of his complaints.

Seiler, who said he had not talked to Battle, said he did not know of any further bed bug problems after September.

Bed bugs have reemerged as a U.S. problem in recent years because of immigration, international travel and bugs becoming resistant to pesticides, the CDC information said. The pencil-tip sized pests usually spread by hiding in clothing or personal items. A favorite haunt is seams of bedding or furniture, where they emerge at night to suck blood from unsuspecting sleepers.