France’s Bed Bug crisis at risk of international spread
France is facing a bed bug epidemic ahead of next year’s Olympics, that is now at risk of spreading across the world. The country has always held issues regarding bed bugs. One-tenth of the country’s homes are reported with infestation from 2017 to 2022 according to a report from France’s health authority; however, this recent wave has been cause for paranoia. Reports show bed bugs being seen in areas of the Paris subway and hotel rooms. In recent examinations, the bed bugs seem to be spreading.
After Paris Fashion Week, people returned home to various countries, tracking bed bugs with them. There have now been sightings of bed bugs in public areas of England and the U.S such as Northampton’s housing authority and Las vegas hotels. The recent surge in infestation can be attributed to a resistance to fumigation.
A study from the National Library of Medicine reports that a majority of previously used methods for eliminating bed bugs may not be as efficient. A majority of the different species held improved resistance to the repellers; neonicotinoids being the exemption, which only one species was showing increased resistance to. Silica Gel has proven to be the most effective among all species but has been shown to be a carcinogen for humans.
France is committed to eliminating the problem ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Paris’s deputy mayor has pleaded with the prime minister of France to put forward a plan to control the infestation but its effects are already far-reaching. London has begun to prepare for an infestation and it is only a matter of time before reports of them in more metropolitan areas such as New York.
