Bedbugs Infest European Tourist Hotspot: 'No One Is Safe'

Paris is currently in the grip of a bedbug infestation, as the insects have been spotted throughout the city on public transportation, in movie theaters, and even at the Charles de Gaulle airport. And with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games less than a year away, city officials are in a race to eradicate the scourge.

Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire warned residents on X, formerly Twitter, last week that "no one is safe" from the pests, while calling for "coordinated measures" between health authorities and local communities to prevent further spread of the infestation.

"The state urgently needs to put an action plan in place against this scourge as France is preparing to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2024," Gregoire said in a letter to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, according to NBC News.

Due to the proliferation of bedbugs on high-speed trains and the Paris metro—which have been widely documented on social media—Transport Minister Clement Beaune said he planned to discuss the issue with transport operators this week. On X, Beaune promised to "reassure and protect" people from using public transportation and that operators would "act more to serve customers."

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The bedbug problem is hardly new to France. A report published by the government health agency Anses in July found that between 2017 and 2022, bedbugs had infested more than one in ten French households. However, the recent proliferation in Paris can likely be attributed to tourists staying in short-term vacation rentals with unregulated cleaning and sanitary procedures. Tourists then inadvertently carry the bugs through wealthier, central parts of the city.

"It’s mainly due to the movement of people, populations traveling, the fact that people stay in short-term accommodation and bring back bedbugs in their suitcases or luggage," Johanna Fite, an engineer with the Anses department of risk assessment, told CNN.