“Damn it”. In an article published on his site, the Daily Mail devotes a few lines to the panic that is spreading across France over bedbugs. “Videos show blood-sucking creatures crawling on the seats of Parisian trains and buses,” notes the British daily.
The French government announced on Friday September 29 a meeting next week with transport operators. “I will bring together transport operators next week, to inform on the actions undertaken and act more in the service of travelers. To reassure and protect”, wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter) the Minister for Transport Clément Beaune . Anne Hidalgo called on the government on Thursday for “an action plan”, alarmed by a “significant resurgence” of this parasitic species, the size of an apple seed, which feeds at night, mainly on blood human. The PS town hall particularly wants the organization of “pest control meetings”.
“Everyone is panicking”
The presence of bedbugs has been reported in recent weeks in cinemas, on the TGV, in the Paris metro or in the waiting area of Roissy airport. But not all of these cases are proven. Psychosis has spread throughout France, as reported by the foreign press. “For years, Paris’ nightmare has been the proliferation of rats. Today, the invasion of bedbugs is causing concern in the French capital,” notes the Spanish daily La Vanguardia. “A wave of panic and disgust has spread across the country,” also notes the British newspapere The Guardian.
“Everyone is panicking,” Sacha, a pest control store manager, told Reuters. “People can get really depressed, even paranoid.” “That worries me. I will keep my luggage closed to prevent (bedbugs) from entering my home. Once I get home, I will have to wash all my clothes,” says Laura, who goes in the south of France. Arriving in Paris from Nice, Sophie says she closely inspected her seat for any signs of these insects.
As the foreign press notes, in a report published in July, ANSES indicated that between 2017 and 2022, bedbugs had infested more than one in ten French homes (11%). Disappeared from daily life in the 1950s, these insects have made a comeback over the past thirty years in many developed countries thanks to increasingly nomadic lifestyles and consumption favoring second-hand purchases. and increasing resistance to insecticides. To eliminate them, careful cleaning of the infested area is essential and the use of a specialized pest control service is often necessary.
No “miracle treatment to get rid of it”
Three years ago, reminds CNN, the French government “had already launched an anti-bedbug campaign, including a dedicated site and a telephone information line”. But this was not enough to contain the spread of the parasite.
Its presence is “mainly due to the movement of people, the movement of populations, the fact that people stay in short-term accommodation and bring bedbugs back in their suitcases or luggage,” Johanna Fite, from the Department of Defense, explains to CNN. risk assessment of the National Health Security Agency (ANSES).
The growing number of bedbugs can also be explained by the fact that they are increasingly resistant to insecticides. “There is therefore no miracle treatment to get rid of it,” emphasizes Johanna Fite. Bedbugs cost French households 230 million euros per year between 2017 and 2022, according to a recent Anses report.
Fear over the Olympics
“Bed bugs, which love the night and feed on blood, have coexisted with humans for millennia. Contrary to popular belief, they are not the result of a lack of hygiene […] They live in Paris both in the most popular neighborhoods and in the elitist 16th arrondissement,” recalls La Vanguardia.
“The war against bedbugs is arduous and victory may be short-lived,” says the Spanish daily. “Time is running out”, as the Paris Olympic Games loom, notes La Vanguardia and other foreign media, which cite the words of Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy mayor of Paris. “There is no threat to the Olympic Games,” assured the elected official on LCI. “Bedbugs existed before and they will exist after,” he added, saying the Olympics were an “opportunity” for everyone to work together on the problem.
The phenomenon “does not only concern France, to be honest”, relativize the Guardian. “New York had its own outbreak in 2010, and the number of contaminated homes in the UK increased by 65% compared to last year.”