EAST MOLINE -- Bed bugs have infested at least three apartments in Joseph Fulton Homes in East Moline. The complex is operated by the Greater Metropolitan Area Housing Authority, along with Warren Tower, a senior apartment complex that also is battling bed bugs.

"I work too. My tax dollars are going to support places like this (government run low-income housing). If people knew how disgusting this is, I'm sure they'd be upset," said a resident of the Joseph Fulton Homes. The woman asked to remain anonymous.

She said that this is her third time to have to rid her home of the small, blood-sucking insects since last fall.

"I've rented a steam cleaner -- I can't even tell you how many times. I vacuum constantly," she said. The exterminators have told her that she's done all that she can to keep her home free of bed bugs. "The housing authority is not being much of a help," she said.

According to the woman, an adjoining apartment has been infested with bed bugs for some time. She thinks that is how her apartment keeps getting infested. There is an opening in the wall that allows pipes to run between the apartments. She said a neighbor often visits a friend in Warren Tower that she believes has an infested apartment.

Brad Gehn, owner of Thymet Pest Control in Moline, said it's possible for bed bugs to travel in between apartments through hollow, common walls. He said it's generally more common for bed bugs to be physically carried by hosts or their belongings to locations. Mr. Gehn said when there's social interaction between apartment tenants bed bugs "can be transmitted from one tenant's apartment to the next, to the next." Bed bugs also can be carried by travelers through suitcases.

Mr. Gehn said bed bugs live in more places than just mattresses and box springs. He said they often hide in cracks and crevices in woodwork and in dresser drawers, which is why it's important to keep the laundry of an infested home in air-tight plastic bags.

Bed bugs are not known to carry disease. The parasites feed on the blood of humans and animals, and can live for a year and a half without a blood host.

The woman with the infested apartment said this has been very hard on her and her 7-year-old son. "My son's arms look like hamburger meat half of the time," she said.

"Two weekends ago when I found them, all I could do was cry," she said. The woman said all of her extra money has been spent trying to take care of this problem and replacing furniture, and estimates she's spent $2,000 so far. She still owed money on the furniture that she was forced to throw away.

She said that her apartment will be sprayed for the bugs today, along with the adjoining apartments.

Diane Fuller, executive director of the Greater Metropolitan Area Housing Authority, did not return a late afternoon phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

Residents of Warren Tower, Silvis, complained of a bed bug infestation last week. Ms. Fuller said the problem was under control at that time.