Bedbugs multiply quickly, with a population growing by a factor of 1,000 in just two months. That speed of breeding is what has turned the pests into a nation-wide menace, experts say.
It's also prompted a local pest control company to call on the province to act. Abell Pest Control is asking for the province to create an awareness campaign about the pests and started its own awareness campaign online at http://www.freebedbugtraining.com.
A spokesperson for the company says that as recently as six years ago, only a few people a month would call about bedbugs. Last year, the company received more than 2800 calls about bedbugs.
"It all really starts with public awareness and knowing what to look for," says Shaun Jeffrey, a spokesperson for Abell Pest Control. "Bedbugs can go any where people go – no business is safe from them. So it's that public awareness that is really going to be the key defence in taking care of them on a long-term basis. "
The province said in the fall that officials are working on the bedbug issue with Manitoba Health.
