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San Francisco Supervisors Target City's Bed Bug Problem

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco's Board of Supervisors tackled the city's bed bug infestation this week when they unanimously approved legislation giving property owners, tenants and the Health Department more tools to deal with the problem.

One man claimed during public comment that the blood feeders have caused San Franciscans to lose their sanity.

While some might feel that's an overstatement, they may not have had the unpleasant experience of waking up in the middle of the night to having bed bugs crawling all over them.

The supervisors said it's a big problem at low-cost residential hotels and the hope is that a new measure by Supervisor Jane Kim will help. Property owners will have to disclose their bed bug history and tenants will be told their rights and responsibilities considering the fact that sometimes it's the tenants that bring the bugs in with them.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

"One of the best things that we can do of course is to prevent bed bugs from coming into the units and we will continue to do that work," Kim said.

Supervisor Scott Wiener hopes the legislation will at least shed light on the bed bug danger.

"This is one of those issues that hasn't received enough attention and we need to start really aggressively dealing with it," Wiener said.

This approach makes it clear that bed bugs are a shared responsibility and tenants and landlords will have to work together to get the upper hand on the pesky critters.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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