Feb 28, 2007 6:20 am US/Eastern
Bed Bugs Wreak Havoc In Maryland
BEL AIR, Md. (CBS) ―
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Bed bugs like this one have infested a Maryland apartment complex. (File)
They are creepy, crawly, they bite and now they are wreaking havoc in one Maryland apartment complex.
Kathryn Brown of CBS station WJZ-TV in Baltimore reports on efforts to get rid of the millions of critters who have infested people's homes in Bel Air, Md.
Tammy Gregory is a resident who, as of Tuesday night, had her entire apartment bagged, boxed and packed away because of bed bugs.
"'Don't let the bed bugs bite, if they do, hit them with a shoe' - I didn't know that was real," said Gregory.
For Gregory and tenants living in her apartment building they could have only hoped that the bed bugs that have been biting them non-stop were only part of a nightmare.
Exterminators worked all day Tuesday spraying apartment after apartment with toxic chemicals in an effort to destroy the painful problem.
One tenant who declined to be identified said she reported the issue to the complex managers last week. When she was told by managers that the problem was bed bugs, she said, "It was horrible, I went up there so upset I couldn't even talk to them."
The woman's granddaughter still has scars from dozens of bites she suffered.
Signs are now posted around the apartment complex to warn residents of a mandatory extermination that is so intense it will last three weeks.
"It's like asking someone to move three times in three weeks," the woman said.
Bed bugs are a nasty, expensive problem, which travels to new places in luggage or furniture, and can crawl through water pipes and cracks.
Once the bugs are infested they burrow and nest, with females laying 2,000 eggs per year.
Gregory is very concerned that the bed bugs may still be around after efforts to destroy them.
"We don't even know there's a guarantee it's going to work. They can't even move us until we're treated."
Although managers are treating the bed bug problem, tenants have said they are not providing any alternative accommodations.
Phone calls from WJZ-TV to building managers were not returned.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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