Marion Jr. High School gym to be inspected, treated for bed bugs

MARION, Ill. (KFVS) - Another bed bug was spotted in a Marion school, this time in the West Gymnasium at the Marion Jr. High School.

This makes for the third time bed bugs were spotted in a school in the district.

The school district alerted parents and guardians late on Tuesday afternoon, November 26.

They said professionals were notified and there will be inspections, followed by treatment, in the gymnasium and locker room areas.

Another southern Illinois school district, in Harrisburg, reported it’s also inspecting its buildings for bed bugs.

Classes were canceled on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

School officials said that fewer than five students and two adjacent classrooms were identified as having bed bugs.

Parents with students in the impacted classrooms were notified.

Classes resumed on Thursday, Nov. 21 after the school was professionally inspected and treated for bed bugs.

According to school officials, no bed bugs were spotted during that inspection process and Marion High School was cleared.

The school district reported a bed bug was spotted on Friday, Nov. 22 at the high school. They said the building was inspected and treated starting on Friday night and lasting through the weekend.

According to a post on the district’s Facebook page on Sunday, Nov. 24, no bed bugs were seen. The district said school officials would be monitoring the situation closely and apologized for the inconvenience.

In the post, the district said Monday would be a normal school day, and all buildings would operate on regular schedules.

The environmental public health specialist said bed bugs feed during the night

“You can normally find them in the seams of mattresses. You can also find their left-over blood or blood speckles will be a sign of them,” said Samantha Powers.

She said if you get bit you may notice a small bump.

“They are itchy. The only thing that could come from that is maybe a secondary bacterial infection from scratching the site itself,” said powers.

She said if you see a bed bug you should call pest control.

“There are a couple different methods they could use to treat bed bugs. One of them being a chemical which would be a pesticide and another one would be non-chemical which is a heat treatment,” said Powers

The Cape County Public Health Department said bed bugs are a nuisance, but they aren’t dangerous.

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