A U.S. Department of Agriculture agency charged with protecting the country against invasive pests has repeatedly been infested with bed bugs, leading offices to be fumigated and staff to be sent home.
Employees reporting to the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, were reportedly warned of the infestation in mid-May.
The irony of the outbreak happening in the offices of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “was lost on no one,” a USDA employee told NOTUS.
Since then, USDA has reportedly fumigated the building, authorizing employees to work remotely, then letting them telework again when employees complained that lingering fumes inside the center were making them sick.
The Trump administration has pushed federal employees to work from the office five days per week, after widespread remote work during the pandemic.
Bed bugs were reportedly observed inside the center again on Friday, and employees told NOTUS they were no longer being allowed to telework, prompting disgust about the conditions inside the building and concern that workers would bring the highly invasive pests home.
“They are scared,” one worker told the publication. “If you bring them home, the answer is to trash all of your belongings and fumigate your house at your own expense.”
Others said they were paranoid about getting bitten and feeling constantly itchy.
“USDA took prompt and robust action several weeks ago,” an agency spokesperson told The Independent. “Unfortunately, personal belongings left in the offices caused further issue. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service management is working with employees to ensure the spaces are emptied for proper mitigation.”
Bed bug infestations can lead to people facing bites on their skin and unsanitary stains on their linens, plus time-consuming and costly efforts to find and eradicate the bugs.
Nearby Baltimore is one of the worst cities in the country for bed bug infestations, according to pest control company Terminix.
The infestation comes as the USDA has multiple pressing matters on its hands, including an attempted reorganization meant to shift agency employees out of Washington as well as the threat that the flesh-eating, parasitic New World screwworm could return to the US, after being eradicated in the second half of the 20th century.
Many federal workers have signaled they will oppose the relocation effort or leave the USDA in response.
The USDA has been one of the agencies hit hardest in the Trump administration’s mass downsizing of the federal government, losing more than 24,000 people through a combination of firings and resignations since President Donald Trump took office.
