Students living in accommodation on the Etterbeek Campus of Brussels’ Dutch-medium Free University (VUB) have been told that bedbugs have been spotted in their digs. The university has deployed a specialist team of Malinois Belgian shepherd dogs to track down the unwanted guests.
The Head of the University’s student accommodation department Bart Gielen told the Brussels regional news platform Bruzz that “We can’t really speak of their being an infestation just yet, but it is important that we act quickly”.
Student Jarne Thiels told Bruzz that "I don’t know anyone that is having issues with bedbugs myself, but our chat group exploded when the news broke. I hope that everyone is going to be honest about this. It’s your duty to be so if you have pest control issues”.
No infestation yet
The head of the university’s student accommodation department Bart Geelen says that while there is not yet an infestation it is important to act quickly.
"We have found bedbugs in 7 of the 1,500 rooms we let out. The rooms are not all in the same block, but our students often visit each other. All those concerned have been contacted and preliminary extermination measures have been taken. As some bedbug eggs may have survived in the rooms, we will go back a second time. All the students have been able to return to their rooms”.
Sniffer dogs
In Brussels there is a specialised team of Malinois Belgian shepherd dogs that have been trained to find bedbugs. The dogs went to the VUB Campus last weekend where they checked all of the student digs there. IT takes one of the dogs around 10 minutes to check a room. Student staying in accommodation at the Etterbeek Campus are being asked to report any siting of bedbugs in their digs.