Paris is facing an enormous bedbug crisis just months before the Olympics, and officials are sounding the alarm. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called an emergency meeting of ministers to tackle the issue head-on.
Clement Beaune, France’s transportation minister, has held discussions with transportation companies regarding monitoring and disinfection efforts. Some officials are blaming the media for sensationalizing the situation, but videos of bedbugs infiltrating trains and reports of new infestations continue to surface.
Bedbugs are notoriously resilient, surviving without food for up to a year and resisting common pesticides. These pests don’t jump or fly but easily hitch rides with hosts from place to place.
With the Paris Olympics scheduled for July, the prospect of visitors staying in bedbug-infested accommodations is alarming. According to the National Agency for Health and Food Safety, over 10% of French households reported bedbug infestations between 2017 and 2022, though experts believe this number could be higher due to the stigma associated with admitting such a problem.
Paris is overrun with bed bugs.
Hysteria is spreading across the French capital after a massive surge in bedbugs inside hotel rooms, cinemas and even public transportation—social media footage shows.
Emmanuel Grégoire, the deputy mayor of Paris, said the problem is… pic.twitter.com/QxwVirWgGt
— DailyVibez (@MyDailyVibez) October 3, 2023
The crisis escalated when reports emerged of bedbugs in a city movie theater, followed by viral videos showing the pests on buses and trains. Parisian political leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron, are pushing for legislation to combat the infestation.
Mathilde Panot, a figure in France’s far-left circles, made waves in Parliament by revealing a vial of bedbugs and criticizing her colleagues for allowing the problem to spread. Paris is racing to address this issue before the world descends on the city for the Olympics.
