Bedbugs found in Vancouver library book

A bedbug alert has been raised at another Lower Mainland library after a patron of the Mount Pleasant branch discovered the first live bedbugs in the Vancouver library system.

Earlier this month, New Westminster and Burnaby closed three library branches after finding bedbugs in some of their books.

Then on Saturday, Vancouver resident Brian King was reading in his living room when one of the blood-sucking parasites crawled out of the book and onto his hand.

"Out of the spine walks this little red creepy-crawly thing and I said to my wife, 'Hello what's this?'" King told CBC News on Wednesday.

King said a Google search informed him it was a bedbug, and a quick search of the book turned up several more.

"So I squished two or three of them. I caught a couple of them live and put them in a pill bottle securely, and there were also in the spine maybe two or three already dead."

The discoverysparked a search of his home for more.

"We panicked a bit, so we dumped all the clothes and the chair I was sitting on. We searched and we vacuumed, took my beds to pieces, and laundered the whole thing."

No library closures planned

Vancouver Public Library spokesperson Jean Kavanagh says it's the first report of a live bedbug in the Vancouver system. Staff are in contact with Vancouver Coastal Health and continue to monitor the situation.

But because of the size of the Vancouver Library system, they haven't decided yet whether to mount a full-scale inspection for bedbugs, and they have no plans to close any library branches, said Kavanagh.

"We have over 10 million items, so I think we have to look at the situation seriously, but also practically."

Meanwhile, King said it appears his home is bedbug free.

"No sign of any bug infestations at all. There hadn't been and there still isn't," he said.