Paris Bedbug Outbreak Sparks Fears Of Global Invasion: What We Know So Far

The City of Light is reportedly under seige from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report a surge in inquiries.

With Paris having just hosted the Rugby World Cup and Paris Fashion Week, there are mounting fears of the problem spreading as visitors return home with an unwelcome souvenir.

“It’s a real nightmare,” said Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris. “I’m so afraid to take the Metro, I don’t go to the cinema – it’s very alarmant.”

Eurostar And Transport For London Seeking To Ease Concerns

In the UK, Eurostar has sought to reassure travellers the textile surfaces of its trains are cleaned thoroughly and that the presence of insects such as bedbugs is substantially rare.

It’s said trains would be cleaned “as soon as there is the slightest doubt”. Meanwhile, Transport for London said it would continue monitoring and “rigorous” cleaning of its networks.

But social media has already stoked fears that it may be too late, while tensions on the trains and streets are running high. This week there was a surge in Google searches for bedbugs.

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Social Media Stocking Fears Of Global Invasion

“My friend is on a train from Birmingham to Leicester and she has just seen a bedbug,” tweeted Tian-Demi Douglas on Monday. She later said her friend was seeking precautionary measures.

London receives 15 Eurostar trains direct from Paris every day. There is a sense of bracing for impact in the city and a new undercurrent of threat to every unanticipated street find.

“There was a lovely armchair left on the road that I wanted to take, but I didn’t – because of the bugs,” said Izzy Brooks, a recent graduate in south London.

Less Responses Allowing Infestation To Go Untreated

While bedbugs are found wherever there are people in large numbers, major cities across the world are known to periodically experience surges.

An estimated 30% of the human population do not react to getting bitten by the nocturnal bloodsuckers, often allowing an outbreak to go untreated for longer.

This tendency is reported to be especially common in the older population, who may be immobile or even bedbound and more susceptible to distress.