Paris is in a battle against bedbugs. Officials are working to tamp down the problem after numerous reported sightings around the French capital.
“No one is safe,” Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said Friday on X, formerly Twitter. He called for “coordinated measures" between health authorities and other stakeholders and has asked Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to organize a conference on the fight the insects. French Transport Minister Clement Beaune also said he would bring transit operators together to discuss the problem this week, aiming to “reassure and protect.”
Videos on social media appear to show the insects, which feed on the blood of humans and animals, crawling around everywhere from high-speed trains to buses. They have also been reported in cinemas and at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The city is preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but Grégoire said the bedbugs pose no threat to the games, according to CNN, and instead present a chance for everyone to work together.
French health agency ANSES said in July that a survey found 11% of households in the country had been infested from 2017 to 2022. “The upsurge in bed-bug infestations in recent years has been due in particular to the rise in travel and the increasing resistance of bed bugs to insecticides,” ANSES said.
Where do bed bugs come from?:Here's how they get in and how you can check for their presence
Infestations typically occur close to where people sleep, including hotels, trains, buses and cruise ships, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Bedbugs have been found in five-star hotels and resorts and their presence is not determined by the cleanliness of the living conditions where they are found,” the agency says on its website.
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