— Just 10 months before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the French capital is battling an invasion of bedbugs.
Moroccan media outlets reported that Tangiers port and health authorities had put in place additional monitoring protocols after the ferry arrived to detect and prevent the spread of bedbugs from any further vessels arriving from France.Paris companies specializing in treating insect infestations say they've been overwhelmed in recent weeks. Parisians shell out an average of $500 to have their homes treated if they discover the tiny bugs.
"Bedbugs are a public health issue and should be declared as such," Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire wrote to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. He called on the government to put together an action plan to address the problem at a national level. In a busy city like Paris, tourists can unwittingly pick up the pesky passengers in their suitcases from an infected hotel, then travel by metro or other public means and deposit the hitchhikers in the seats. Exterminators say it's vital to act quickly if you spot bedbugs. All clothes and bedlinens that could be infected should be placed in garbage bags and closed tight, and then it should all be laundered on a high temperature setting.