If you experience symptoms you believe are ...: Google in email to all employees at its New York offices

Google employees at the company’s Chelsea campus in Manhattan were notified Sunday, October 19, of a potential bed bug outbreak, prompting immediate action from the tech giant. An email from Google’s environmental, health, and safety team, obtained by WIRED, confirmed that exterminators and a sniffer dog found “credible evidence” of bed bugs in the office.Employees were told to avoid the office until the treatment was complete. By Monday morning, employees were cleared to return, with Google conducting additional inspections at its Hudson Square campus and other New York facilities as a precaution. The email urged employees to report any symptoms potentially linked to bed bug exposure or sightings of the pests to the facilities team. Google also advised staff to contact professional exterminators if they discovered bed bugs at home.Unverified sources suggest large stuffed animals in Google’s New York offices may be linked to the outbreak.

The company advised employees to submit a report “if you experience symptoms you believe are linked to possible bed bug exposure.

” Additionally, “if you suspect you’ve seen a bed bug onsite,” employees were told to report the sighting to the facilities team.Though WIRED could not confirm this claim. Google declined to comment.This marks the second bed bug incident at Google’s New York offices, following a 2010 outbreak at its 9th Avenue location during a citywide infestation.