French government launches battle plan against bedbug invasion

[misskit]

The French government said Friday it was launching a concerted effort to fight bedbugs that have appeared in numbers in public transport, cinemas and hospitals.

The blood-sucking insects have been spotted in the Paris metro, high-speed trains and at Paris's Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, with disgusted travellers posting videos on social media.


Transport Minister Clement Beaune said he was convening representatives from public transport operators next week "to inform them about counter-measures and how to do more for the protection of travellers".


Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Beaune said the aim was to "reassure and protect".


Bedbugs, which had largely disappeared from daily life by the 1950s, have made a resurgence in recent decades, mostly due to high population densities and more mass transit.

One-tenth of all French households are believed to have had a bedbug problem over the past few years, usually requiring a pest control operation costing several hundreds of euros (dollars) that often needs to be repeated.


Paris city hall on Thursday urged President Emmanuel Macron's government to help with the infestation, including by creating a dedicated task force.


Bedbugs get their name from their habit of nesting in mattresses, although they can also hide in clothes and in luggage.


They come out at night to feed on human blood.


France's national health agency recommended that people check their hotel beds when travelling and be cautious about bringing second-hand furniture or pre-owned mattresses into their homes.


Once bedbugs are sighted in a home, affected rooms must be treated quickly, it said.


Bedbug bites leave red areas, blisters or large rashes on the skin, and can cause intense itching or allergic reactions.


They also often cause psychological distress, sleeping issues, anxiety and depression.


The appearance of the insects, which can grow up to around 7 millimetres long, is unrelated to hygiene levels, according to the French authorities.

French government launches battle plan against bedbug invasion

[david44]

Paris fumigates for tiger mosquitoes as tropical pest spreads across Europe

Health authorities in Paris fumigated areas of the French capital for the first time on Thursday to kill disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes whose rapid advance through northern Europe is thought to have been accelerated by climate change.
Issued on: 31/08/2023 - 17:51
2 min


Tiger mosquitoes arrived in France in 2004 and have spread across the country since. © Valéry Hache, AFP file photo
By:NEWS WIRES





Roads were closed and people asked to stay in their homes in southeast Paris during the early hours of Thursday as pest control contractors sprayed insecticide in trees, green spaces and other mosquito-breeding areas.
Such scenes are a regular occurence in tropical cities and becoming increasingly common in Europe as the tiger mosquito, which can carry the dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses, spreads from its native southeast Asia.
"It was a first in Paris, but it's not the first in France," deputy Paris mayor Anne Souyris, who is in charge of health policy, told BFM television. "The south of France has been affected by tiger mosquitoes for some years."
The regional health body for the capital, ARS Ile-de-France, said the area targeted for fumigation was 150 metres (500 feet) around the home of a person in the 13th district of the capital who had contracted dengue fever while travelling.
"These operations are being carried out to reduce the risk of transmission of dengue after a case was detected," it said.

Paris fumigates for tiger mosquitoes as tropical pest spreads across Europe

[harrybarracuda]

You should post this in spamdreth's olympics thread, it might make it vaguely interesting.