The bed bug infestation in Prince George that made the rounds across social media this week only took place at Esther's Inn, not in any other establishment in Prince George, a representative from the Prince George Accommodations Association said Friday.
"Every other phone call is from somebody who hasn't stayed with us before asking if we have bed bugs," Elke Hierl-Steinbauer, secretary treasurer of the association and manager at Bon Voyage Inn said. "And it's not just us, it's other hotels as well because we've been talking about that. The association members are thinking we should probably speak to the managers and owners of Esther's. They need to do something because it appears they're not responding at all and that is terrible."
Hierl-Steinbauer said she's hearing across the local hotel community that the word is there's a bed bug outbreak in Prince George.
"No we don't have a bed bug outbreak," she added. "And we're a little bit concerned because technically that affects all of us in a way, reputation wise, because now people are saying we have so many bed bugs up here and no, we don't."
It all started with a post on Facebook by Laura Evans of Terrace, which contains a photo of a bed bug and a video of the bugs actively crawling about in the bedding. The post is dated May 19. Evans did not respond to a request for interview.
Esther's Inn manager William Chen said they followed protocol and dealt with the bed bug issue immediately. Esther's Inn has more than 100 rooms and the bed bug infestation affected only one room.
The guests checked out at midnight on May 9, the charge on their credit card was reversed immediately and all their belongings were put in a dryer at high heat for 30 minutes because that's what kills the bugs, Chen added. The guests were offered another room but declined, he added.
On May 10 the exterminator was called and came in to treat the room.
The room was then sealed as instructed by pest control. A week went by and the follow up was conducted by pest control that gave the room the all clear on May 18.
"The pest control company came back and inspected the room and they declared the room clean," said Chen. "We did our initial steps as per the pest control company and health authority and we did our proper follow up as per those two organizations as well. The room is still sealed off as an extra precaution to make sure because we know that everyone is concerned about the situation and they fear 'what if it's not safe to come here?' We want to guarantee we did everything as per the pest control company regulations and the health authority."
Chen said the environmental health officer came in and approved all the action taken. Northern Health confirmed it.
"Bed bugs are not considered a public health issue," Andrea Palmer, Northern Health regional manager, public affairs and media relations, said. "They are not a vector for spreading communicable disease, though they are, of course, a nuisance and NH doesn't have a specific mandate to respond to bed bug complaints."
Chen wants the public to know that all the action to eliminate the problem was taken prior to Laura Evans Facebook post that at 1 p.m. Friday had more than 2,200 comments and more than 10,000 shares.
"People are saying Esther's Inn does not care, we're not trying to resolve the issue, we're trying to cover up the issue - that is not true," Chen said. "How would we have had an initial treatment and follow up all done prior to the Facebook posting if we did not care? We took this matter very, very seriously and we were on it the moment it happened. We feel hurt that people are saying that we would purposely let guests into rooms or let guests into an establishment knowing that there are bugs problems. That is absolutely not true."
