The city of love, Paris, is dealing with a bedbug infestation, and French authorities have vowed to tackle the matter before the Paris Olympics next year.
Footage of the parasites crawling in public spaces, from cinemas to buses and places of accommodation, has been making the rounds on social media.
@jimmysongcreative We rented a one month #airbnb in #Paris and discovered bed bugs 🤢🤮 It took almost a week for Airbnb to refund us the money and we had to pay more than the refund to find a new place #airbnbnightmare ♬ origineel geluid - Tik Toker
Bed bugs are small, flat, wingless insects that are reddish-brown which hide during the day on beds (mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards) and in cracks and crevices of walls, floors and furniture and come out at night.
According to BBC News, the French government has attributed the issue to international travel and the bugs being resistant to chemical treatment.
French authorities have vowed to “reassure and protect” travellers from the blood sucking insects as the France hosts Fashion Week and the Rugby World Cup.
Paris’s issue has been trending on social media platforms X, formerly Twitter, and TikTok, with social media users and netizens also sharing tips on how Parisians and travellers can deal with the infestation.
Musician Kelly Rowland posted pictures of herself on X, captioned ‘🤭 Girls Night Out in Paris😜’, to which one user responded: “be careful kelly they got bed bugs”.
be careful kelly they got bed bugs https://t.co/zOEmZFZI5u
— rxmsxy (@rxmsxy) October 1, 2023
Another X user, @hirsicouture, said: “them bedbugs catching free flights around the world after paris fashion week.”
them bedbugs catching free flights around the world after paris fashion week pic.twitter.com/J2pmTIoxiM
— hc (@hirsicouture) October 2, 2023
Another user, @jesuissamii, said: “Do you guys know how hard it is to get rid of bed bugs? I worked in homelessness.
“We once paid £70k to get the entire building heated to 80C for a week. We came to the bedbugs enjoying the heat, like they were on a sun lounger and sipping piña coladas.”