The bedbugs are said to be everywhere in the city; in the subway, in homes, in public places.
Now Paris officials want the help of a national task force to combat the scourge.
– You can get them on you anywhere and take them home, says the deputy mayor of Paris about the bed bugs.
One in ten homes in France has had bed bugs at some point in the last five years.
The small blood-sucking insects, which are often spread via textiles, have created a crisis in Paris.
– It is hell when someone ends up in this, says Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoir.
People stand on the subway
The people in Paris say that you find bedbugs on subway and bus seats. Some carriages and buses have been taken out of service for cleaning, but many passengers still consistently choose to stand up so as not to risk bringing the bed bugs home, reports The Guardian.
– No one is safe. You can get them on you anywhere and bring them home, and not discover it until they have multiplied and spread in the home, says Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire on French TV.
He further says that more requests for help are being received from the authorities, while private pest controllers are busy.
Must go before the Olympics
The Summer Olympics will take place in Paris in the summer of 2024. Before then, the city wants to overcome the problem – otherwise it risks becoming an epicenter for bedbugs. This is because the lice can get stuck on textiles that are packed into the suitcase and taken home.
Representatives from Paris City Hall have written to the country’s Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne with a request for a national task force to overcome the “scourge”.