VIDEOS OF BEDBUGS scurrying across the fabric-covered seats of the Paris Metro have made people’s skin crawl across the world in the last week, as the city’s deputy mayor has called for an urgent action plan to tackle infestations.
These resilient creepy crawlies are causing a headache for French officials ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, but Government Ministers have insisted that initial investigations show there has not been a “resurgence” of bedbugs in the country.
Bedbugs are small, reddish-brown parasitic insects that feed on the blood of humans and animals. Typically, they live in crevices around beds and come out at night to bite exposed flesh.
So, other than being grossed out by the plethora of bedbug related videos on our social media feeds, how worried should people visiting Paris be?
Co-founder of the Irish Pest Control Association Brendan Ryan says that he wouldn’t let reports of a bedbug outbreak in the French capital put him off travelling to see Ireland play in the Rugby World Cup.
The Dublin-based pest control expert said that people should be aware of bedbugs when staying in guest accommodation and travelling abroad, but that there is no need to panic about visiting Paris, or getting on public transport.
“There is a degree of sensationalism going on with the reporting on bedbugs. In my experience it makes sense to be cautious anywhere you are travelling, without letting it ruin your trip,” Ryan said.
“The bedbug has had a meteoric rise in the developed world in the last 45 years, and while outbreaks might be more prevalent in some areas than others at different times, there is no city that bedbugs prefer, and there is certainly none that have escaped their attention,” he added.
Ryan, who has been working in pest control for over 30 years and owns an extermination company called pestfree.ie, said he has noticed an increase in call-outs for bedbugs in recent years, in cases where bedbugs were actually not present at all.
“There is definitely an increased consciousness of bedbugs in society. Every so often there is a panic in the media about them, and when there is, we get a spike in call-outs to people’s homes that don’t have bedbugs at all,” he explained.
After studying the clip that has gone viral, which seemingly shows a bedbug on the Paris Metro, Ryan said that it is in fact a bedbug – but that a lone insect is not evidence of an infestation.
Bed bugs seen crawling over seats on Paris trains and buses as France battles a bed bug invasion. pic.twitter.com/XnwcrQgVax
— Project TABS (@ProjectTabs) October 2, 2023
“It is likely that someone transported it onto the train, after staying in accommodation with a bedbug infestation.
“There is a reason why they are called bedbugs, they want to be as close to human hosts as possible, and ideally those that are asleep at night. They are far more likely to find their way into homes than onto trains – but fabric covers for seats on public transport is probably a bad idea,” Ryan said.
He added that there are some quick measures travellers can take to decrease the risk of taking bedbugs home with them.
“Having them in your home is much worse than being bitten. Infestations in homes can have very damaging psychological effects on people, I’ve seen it happen many times.
“One thing I would always advise is putting your luggage in the bathroom of your hotel straight away if you can, and to keep it there rather than unpacking. Bedbugs are not likely to be in a tiled room.
“If you do not have any bites after the first night or two, it is unlikely that the room is infested, and it is safe to unpack. If it is infested, you should let the accommodation owner know straight away, under-reporting of infestations is the main reason why outbreaks happen in the first place,” Ryan said.
He added that if you find evidence of bedbugs in your home, you need to call a pest control company with experience in eradicating them.
“There is no over the counter alternative that works,” Ryan added.
There isn’t much in the way of statistical evidence to suggest that Paris’s bedbug population has exponentially grown in the last year. What we do know is that ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety, found that between 2017 and 2022 more than one in 10 households had a bedbug infestation.
Sightings in AirBnBs, the Metro, Charles De Gaulle Airport, and cinemas are the main driving factor behind the current political furore on the matter, and Reuters has reported that these reports have “reached the highest levels of government” in France.
Many of these sightings were initially posted on social media, as fed-up Parisians have been posting under the trending hashtag “#punaisedelit” to vent about their experiences with the unwelcome critters.
Some of sightings have been disputed, as RATP, the operator of the Parisian metro, has stated that it has investigated each report, and that it has found “no proven cases of bed bugs”.
The Deputy Mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, called on the state to eradicate the “scourge” of bedbugs on Paris.
The country’s Health Minister, has since said there is “no reason for widespread panic” related to creepy crawlies.
The Transport Minister today told reporters that there is “no resurgence of bedbugs” in Paris, and so there is no need for “psychosis” or “anxiety”.
“Each reported case receives a response and checks,” Clement Beaune said.
He added that none of the cases reported on inner city trains or the Paris Metro have “been proven”.
Paris is not alone in having a bedbug problem.
If you scroll back through news articles on Google, you’ll see that this isn’t the first time that there has been uproar about bedbugs plaguing a particular city.
In the States, Chicago routinely tops the list of bedbug infested cities, while outbreaks have also been reported in Vegas, and a particularly warm summer back in 2018 saw experts warn of an “exponential rise in bedbugs” across the UK’s most populated cities.
In Ireland, extermination company Rentokil has also noted a rise in bedbug related call outs in recent years.
As nightmarish as encountering a bedbug may sound, Ireland’s Health Protection and Surveillance Centre states that bedbugs are not known to spread disease, though the red bite marks that they leave may cause itching and loss of sleep, and allergic reactions require medical treatment.
These bite marks – which look similar to mosquito bites – don’t usually show up until one to several days have passed. It can take that long for people to realise they have been bitten, as bedbugs inject an anaesthetic when they bite. Usually, when some antiseptic is used and scratching is avoided, these marks will simply go away.
However, the psychological effects of bedbug infestations on some people have been noted. One study has found that these effects can include nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, insomnia, anxiety, avoidance behaviours and personal dysfunction. These are all symptoms that are suggestive of posttraumatic stress disorder.
It’s not clear what proportion of people who have dealt with bedbugs experience these psychological effects.
Bedbugs almost disappeared in the 1950s due to the widespread use of the insecticide DDT, but, in response to near mass extinction, the small insects evolved to become resistant to DDT.
Now that many sprays are less effective at killing bedbugs off, and most pesticides have been banned, bedbugs have made a comeback that started in the developing world, but has quickly spread through North American and European cities.
Stow-away bedbugs are transported to different locations on people and objects – like suitcases and clothing.
Rather than Paris being especially doomed or cursed, it’s probably the case that the French capital’s bedbug problem is the result of it being one of the most frequently visited cities in the world.
That being said, if you are one of the thousands of Irish rugby fans travelling to Paris, you may be feeling uneasy about the possibility of encountering bedbugs on public transport or in your hotel bed.
Although it may not be possible to avoid getting bitten, there are a number of common-sense steps you can take to try and avoid it, and to prevent bedbugs coming home with you.
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