France has been hit by an outbreak of bedbugs as the blood sucking pests have taken over homes and public places, especially in the country’s capital, Paris.
The pests are spreading across the European country and infesting homes, public transport, and other public places. In Paris, the bedbugs have been spotted on high-speed trains, buses, cinemas, hospitals and at Charles de Gaulle airport.
This is coming just eight months to the 2024 Summer Olympics billed for Paris.
“The state urgently needs to put an action plan in place against this scourge as France is preparing to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2024,” the capital’s deputy mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, said in a letter to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne this week, according to Reuters.
Transport Minister Clement Beaune said over the weekend he will discuss the issue with transport operators next week, the report added
“Every late summer we see a big increase in bedbugs,” says Jean-Michel Berenger, an entomologist at Marseille’s main hospital and France’s leading expert on les punaises.
“That is because people have been moving about over July and August, and they bring them back in their luggage.
“And each year, the seasonal increase is bigger than the last one.”
