We’ve heard of software bugs, but this is ridiculous.
Over the weekend, a campus-wide email went out to Google employees working in New York, advising them to steer clear of its office in Chelsea due to a bed bug invasion, Wired reports.
The notice was sent out Sunday after exterminators using a bed bug-sniffing K9 found “credible evidence of their presence,” at Google’s Chelsea campus. The office reopened on Monday, and the company’s other three Manhattan offices are also being investigated, according to Wired.
Scent dogs have long been used by exterminators and even New York authorities to suss out infestations, though their reliability has been called into question. One study found they have a mean detection rate of just 44 percent, meaning false-positives could definitely factor in here.
While unconfirmed, Wired also shared rumors that the bed bug outbreak was linked to a large stuffed animal population which calls the Chelsea office home.
Google declined to comment on the stuffed animal situation, but it did tell its New York employees to report any cases of “bed bug exposure” or sightings at the Manhattan offices.
Astonishingly, this marks the second time Google has shuttered this particular workplace due to a bed bug invasion — in 2010, the company was forced to close the Chelsea location after an employee exposed the embarrassing find in a quickly-deleted tweet.
Soon after, a Google spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that bed bugs had been confirmed in a “small area” of the campus. Still, that was amidst a broader infestation which was plaguing Manhattan at the time — an excuse which no longer flies.
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