France is battling with a bedbug infestation across many cities including the national capital Paris. With just 10 months left for the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, these insects have taken over entire cities and are being found from ones bed to seats in movie theatres.Questions regarding health and hygiene during next years Olympic Games are on the rise. The blood-sucking insects were first spotted in hotels and vacation rental apartments across Paris during summer.However, in recent times the pests were also seen in movie theatres and, in recent days, there have even been reports of bedbugs crawling around on seats in both national high-speed trains and the Paris Metro system, as per media reports.Paris bedbug infestationVisuals of the insects are shared by social media users all over the internet and panic has been created among the residents of the French cities. Moreover, companies in Paris who specialise in treating bug infestations claim they have been overrun recently.Paris is overrun with bed bugs. Hysteria is spreading across the French capital after a massive surge in bedbugs inside hotel rooms, cinemas and even public transportation—social media footage shows.Emmanuel Grégoire, the deputy mayor of Paris, said the problem is… pic.twitter.com/QxwVirWgGt— DailyVibez (@MyDailyVibez) October 3, 2023 The possible risk to visitors to the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games particularly concerns Paris City Hall. “Bedbugs are a public health issue and should be declared as such,” Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Gregoire wrote to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. He called on the government to put together an action plan to address the problem at a national level, according to CBS News.Transmissible bedbugs Even though bedbugs are small, they may be seen with the unaided eye. They can spread easily and love to hide in mattresses and other soft furnishings like curtains, but also between floorboards, in electrical sockets and even behind wallpaper. They come out at night to feed on human blood.Tourists may unknowingly pick up the bothersome passengers in their baggage from an infected hotel in a crowded city like Paris, transport them by metro or other public transportation, and then drop them off in their seats. Bedbugs have a high fertility rate, which means that once they locate a place to feed and reproduce, they spread quickly regardless of hygiene, CBS News reported citing the experts.A meeting this week with a number of public transport companies has already been scheduled by French Transport Minister Clement Beaune with the goal of “reassuring and protecting” passengers amid the insect outbreak.(With agency inputs)
