The psychiatric ward of the Guillermo Domínguez López General Teaching Hospital in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, Cuba, is infested with bed bugs again — just two months after the ward was quarantined, patients relocated, every mattress replaced, and days of intensive treatment carried out in July. After more than a month with no signs of the insects, the bugs are back. Hospital director Dr. Deinier Pérez Morales admitted it in a statement on the hospital’s Facebook page, saying a multidisciplinary team has immediately resumed intensive treatment. This “kill them and they return” case shows exactly why bed bugs are so hard to eradicate.
What was done in July
- After bed bugs were first found in July, the hospital quarantined the entire psychiatric ward and moved all patients out.
- Every mattress was replaced, followed by days of intensive pest treatment.
- More than a month of epidemiological surveillance followed, with no bed bugs detected.
Why they came back two months later
- In a statement released Monday on Facebook, the director admitted: “After over a month without any signs of the insects, their presence was detected again two days ago.”
- The hospital says that within the first 48 hours of resumed intensive treatment, insect numbers had already fallen.
- The administration stressed that psychiatric patients need specialized care, which “complicates the implementation of additional measures and extends response times.”
- No signs of bed bugs have been found in other wards so far; the hospital says all inpatient services are being reviewed.
Not an isolated case: a string of hospital infestations in Cuba
- August: at the Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, a nurse set fire to a chair to try to kill bed bugs, amid complaints about the lack of proper pest control products.
- May: a bed bug infestation at the Maternal Hospital in Matanzas, affecting areas used by pregnant women and newborns.
- July 2025: a severe infestation at the Gustavo Machín Psychiatric Hospital in Santiago de Cuba; months later, images emerged from the Santa Clara Psychiatric Hospital showing patients surrounded by insects.
- Cuba’s health system is in broader crisis: dengue and chikungunya outbreaks, hepatitis alerts in schools, leprosy cases, and blackouts of up to 20 hours a day. The provincial pediatric hospital has even promoted coconut water as a substitute for oral rehydration salts.
Why bed bugs “come back after being killed”
- Eggs survive pesticides: most insecticides can’t kill bed bug eggs, which hatch days later into a new generation.
- They hide deep: bed-frame crevices, wall cracks and power outlets are all hiding spots that surface spraying can’t reach.
- Surveillance stopped: a month with no signs doesn’t mean eradication — stopping follow-up gives them the opening to rebound.
- Fewer bugs in 48 hours doesn’t mean eradication: fewer visible adults says nothing about the eggs and hidden nymphs left behind.
For what a genuinely complete treatment looks like, see 7 Methods to Kill Bed Bugs and the DIY Bed Bug Removal Guide — the key is heat treatment plus follow-up inspections, not one round of spraying.
Sources
- Cuba Headlines (published 2026-09-15) — https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/340424
(Written 2026-10-14; compiled from Cuba Headlines’ public reporting.)