Social media was alive on Wednesday with stories about a bed bug problem in BYU’s Helaman Halls on-campus housing complex. But for as fast as word spread, it was old news that didn’t pan out.
A complaint after campus visitors stayed in the dorms for a sports camp session three months ago led to an inspection and a visit by an exterminator, who sprayed one dorm room in the on-campus housing complex. But the treatment was only as a precaution as the inspection had not produced any sign of bed bugs, said University Communications Director Carri Jenkins.
The fact that an exterminator actually treated the dorm room likely fueled talk of a bed-bug problem, even though several months passed before the episode caught attention on social media and then quickly spread.
Bed bugs are insects that feed on human blood, typically gather where humans sleep and are mainly nocturnal. They are spotted by searching mattresses, luggage, couches, furniture or by detecting small blood spots on bed sheets.
