I am sure this is a serious problem for your friend and I hope she gets to the bottom of it. But her situation did remind me of a humorous story involving a divorcing couple, curtain rods and revenge involving awful odor in the house. I looked it up
http://jokemail.blogspot.com/2007/09/curtain-rods.html
If she needs some light relief, please share. I hope she can find a solution that fixes her problem without huge effort and expense.