A significant bedbug outbreak is currently plaguing France, especially in the nation’s capital, Paris. The virile infestation has gotten to the point that the French government has mapped out intervention plans.
During the summer, reports of the minuscule pests in hotels and vacation rentals spread around the city. Reports of bedbugs crawling about on seats in both national high-speed trains and the Paris Metro system have recently surfaced, along with sightings in movie theaters. When some of the unwanted visitors were discovered in the driver’s compartment of a metro train, the driver was horrified.
Travelers are becoming extra cautious when they sit down or drop cloth bags or coats on the floor at their feet after horrified train passengers posted videos of the insects on social media.
While battling these infestations, the French government is requesting residents’ patience. A meeting this week with a number of public transportation operators has already been scheduled by Transport Minister Clément Beaune with the goal of “reassuring and protecting” passengers.
Companies in Paris that specialize in treating bug infestations claim they have been overrun recently. If they find the small pests, Parisians spend, on average, $500 to have their homes disinfected.