Bedbugs worry Manitoba daycares

Daycares in Manitoba want some help from the province in how to deal with bedbugs.

A provincial government spokesperson confirms one child at a daycare has been found to have bedbug bites and that the daycare is taking precautions to prevent the spread of the bugs.

The name of the daycare has not been released.

Pat Wege, executive director at the Manitoba Child Care Association, said the bugs are not yet a major issue in daycares, but could be, and operators need some information on how best to deal with them.

"I think it's a 21st century reality, and you know, as people who live here in Winnipeg know, it is a fact. We're going to have to accommodate that," she said.

"We're going to have to plan for it. We're going to have to take precautions."

Wege wants the province to draw up some guidelines.

"They may decide that children who have bugs in their home have to change clothes when they come into the facility to reduce the risk of hitchhiking," she said.

Or, they may decide not to allow cuddle toys into the centres, Wege added.

Winnipeg is dealing with a larger-than-usual problem of bedbugs, according to a pest control expert.

"Our bedbug business has increased 30 per cent this year," Clint Roseavear, of Monarch Pest Control, told CBC News in an earlier interview. "There's definitely a lot of problems out there, and it doesn't seem to get any better."

Bedbugs have shown up in the most unusual and public places — from movie theatres to banks and university residences.