SEATTLE — The mere mention of the Internal Revenue Service is enough to make most people squirm, but now some of the agency’s own employees are feeling queazy after discovering bedbugs in their office.

An IRS worker first spotted a single bedbug at the Seattle office in October. An exterminator trapped a second bug, and that was enough for IRS officials to send in the hounds.

Exterminators use dogs trained to sniff out the insects, and the dog who canvassed the IRS offices didn’t find any more bugs.

Exterminator Grant Gummo didn’t help with the IRS case, but he suspects the bedbugs discovered in the Federal Building hitched a ride to work from an employee’s home.

“You have your purse next to your bed, or a bag. The bedbugs crawl into the bag, you carry it and have bedbugs at work,” Gummo said.

It’s never easy finding bedbugs, and Gummo said that because office chairs are perfect hiding spaces for the insects, finding them in a large office building can be even more difficult.

An IRS employee anonymously complained about seeing another bedbug several weeks ago, but agency officials say no more bugs have been found at the office.

They say they’ll continue to monitor the situation.

From KOMO News By Mark MillerPublished: Nov 29, 2011 at 6:37 PM PSTLast Updated: Nov 30, 2011 at 6:54 AM PST
Stop Bugging Me Pest Control offer both Commercial and Residential bed bug services throughout the Seattle and the entire puget sound.  call 206 749 2847 for an over-the-phone estimate.