A courthouse in Providence, Rhode Island was recently discovered to have a bed bug infestation that was harder to treat then officials initially thought. The Garrahy Judicial Complex was first discovered to have bed bugs in mid-September. After treatment and inspection, bugs were discovered again on September 24^th. 

The first reports of the infestation downplayed the incident, stating that a very tiny number of bugs were found and promptly dealt with. The bugs were described as being on furniture and in the purse of someone in the building. They brought in a pest control company to treat the area concerned and do further inspections of the courthouse. In this case there were some questions about the lack of public notification but the issue was described as being very minor.

The following week another inspection was carried out and the building was declared bed bug free. However, later on that same day it was announced that another bed bug had been found. Officials again stated that the issue was small and the furniture that the bug was found on was promptly disposed of. Unfortunately for the courthouse staff it’s all to easy for bed bugs to enter public areas. If the bugs were in the purse of someone at the court, as stated in the first incident, it’s easy for them to hitchhike in at any time as a large number of people move through the courthouse each day.