By CRAIG FREILICH

CANTON -- A report in January of a bedbug infestation at an apartment overseen by the Canton Housing Authority has turned out to be false, housing officials say.

Amanda St. Marie of the Housing Authority office said the report of bedbugs in one apartment at 37 Riverside Dr. was investigated and no bedbugs were found.

The apartment was sprayed by an extermination contractor as a precaution, and the protocol calls for follow-up within a week, St. Marie said.

She said they are proactive when it comes to pests. Any sort of complaint about bugs is handled quickly, she said. A contractor will be called, “and they will come in within 24 hours,” she said. “They will do a thorough spraying and will come back the next week” to confirm the spraying was effective.

St. Marie says they take reports of such issues very seriously.

“It’s important that they let us know ASAP so we can take care of the issue,” she said.

“Everything we do is according to protocol,” said Canton Housing Authority Director Cindy Morre. “We have a plan in place for detection and prevention” for this sort of thing, she said, “and if there is a problem, it’s addressed accordingly.”

But in this case, she said, there was a report that turned out to be unfounded.