Alarm in Paris due to the 'invasion' of bedbugs in public spaces

The media alarm began a little over a month ago, when several users saw them swarming around the cinema seats, recorded videos and posted them on social networks.. Then it was on public transport, on the Paris metro and on some high-speed trains managed by the SNCF company.. In recent days it has been in schools. The proliferation of bedbug-like parasites in public spaces in a few weeks has unleashed psychosis, especially in the French capital, which celebrates its Olympic Games in a few months.

The alarm has reached the political sphere. The Mayor of Paris has asked the Government for help to eradicate them, while the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, has asked “not to give in to general panic”. The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, recognized on Tuesday in the Assembly that this problem “is an anguish” and promised more forceful measures to confront it.. The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, has summoned transport operators this week to assess the situation and what measures to take: “To reassure and protect.”

It is not the first time that the French capital has experienced a wave of these bugs that are associated with the movement of people, they adhere especially to fabrics (clothes, upholstery, suitcases) and from there they go from one place to another, sometimes without the user realizing. During the day, they hide in mattresses and box springs.. They feed on human blood. They vampirize at night. The affected person realizes the problem when they see the wounds on the skin.

This problem has affected one in 10 homes in France in recent years, according to the national health security agency (Anses, in its French acronym).. A few weeks ago, several users posted videos on social networks in which tiny bugs were seen in the seats of movie theaters.. The affected chain (UGC) reacted quickly, ensuring that they take disinfection measures in their rooms.

Just a week later, the alarm spread to transportation. SNCF, responsible for the network, also says it does not suffer from this problem on its lines, despite complaints from passengers, who have posted images on social networks such as. Last week, on a TGV (high-speed) train returning from Marseille to Paris, a passenger reported to the controller the presence of a parasite in his seat.. SNCF said it will refund the ticket money to everyone in the affected carriage.

Olympic Games

In a letter to the prime minister, the number two of the Paris Mayor's Office, Emmanuel Grégoire, has asked the Government to take action to combat “pests”, in the face of a “significant resurgence” of bedbugs in the capital.. Just a few months before the Olympic Games, there is concern about its proliferation, especially in transport, which is often too saturated, which facilitates the spread of the problem.

“The State must urgently bring together all affected parties to implement an action plan commensurate with this scourge, especially since all of France is preparing to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024,” the letter says.. He adds that “bed bugs are a public health problem and should be declared as such.”

In Marseille a school has been closed after the presence of bedbugs was detected. Same in Bagneux, in the Paris region. Another center north of Lyon is closed for the same reason. Some experts have warned that the origin of this problem “is not a lack of hygiene, but population movement.”

The Minister of Health has recalled that “it has nothing to do with immigration either”. He responds to the statements of a journalist, who in a television program asked one of the guests if “are it the people who do not have the same hygiene conditions as those who are on French soil who bring them?”

Homes feel unprotected: once installed, bed bugs are very difficult to eradicate. It is also expensive, since in most cases the presence of a professional is required.. Doing it at home is less effective, since some are resistant to insecticides, and these are usually toxic.

According to the national health security agency, between 2017 and 2022, French households have spent 230 million euros a year trying to expel this annoying insect.. The Mayor's Office of Paris demands that this problem be included as a risk in home insurance, which is mandatory when renting a home in France.. In this way, the most modest homes would be covered.