The Best Tips Out of Paris Fashion Week? Avoiding Bedbugs.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: There’s an infestation in the City of Lights, and fashion folks are not immune.

Every late September, when the style mavens descend on Paris for fashion week, they envision enjoying buttery post-show croissants and the occasional pack of Vogue cigarettes savored guilt-free at after-parties. But this season, it’s a bit different: Paris is infested with bedbugs.

Videos shared on social media show bedbugs crawling over seats of the Paris Metro, which carries more than 5 million passengers a day. Some Parisians have reported bites at various big-chain movie theaters. The French meme accounts are having a field day. “You have to understand that in reality no one is safe, obviously there are risk factors but in reality, you can catch bedbugs anywhere and bring them home,” Paris’s deputy mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, said Friday.

Although Parisians don’t seem too concerned about the bedbug infestation (the metro, bars and movie theaters are just as packed as they’ve always been), at Paris Fashion Week shows, attendees have been trading tips on how to avoid catching them: store your luggage in the bathtub, they said; if you take public transportation, don’t sit down on the fabric seats; buy a $220 bedbug-killing heater on Amazon.

Bedbugs are a common urban scourge, often found living in mattresses, carpets, clothing and linens, and usually surfacing at night to feed (on your blood, that is). They typically bite in a telltale zigzag pattern, leaving clusters of three to five bites on the skin that can cause itchiness, redness and swelling and burning. In major cities like New York, having a brush with bedbugs is such a universal experience that the New York’s health department has their own bedbug complaint line. » | Jessica Roy | Monday, October 2, 2023

More here.

A Bedbug Epidemic Bites New York
TIMES ONLINE: An epidemic of bedbugs in the Big Apple has brought panic, revulsion and a nasty little rash to rich and poor alike. Can the city cope

Photograph: Times Online
At first May thought that her husband had heat rash. “We were staying at a smart hotel in Cape Cod. Then I developed these hive-like welts on my back and legs.” May (not her real name; she is terrified of giving me that) is middle class, in her late fifties and lives on the Upper West Side, New York, in a well-maintained four-room apartment. When she and her husband returned to the city, one doctor prescribed antihistamines, surmising the couple had reacted to shellfish. She called a dermatologist. “He took one look and said, ‘You both have bedbug bites’. My husband turned our mattress over and we saw them. That’s when — no joke, no exaggeration, however ridiculous it may sound — our nightmare began.”

The infestation would last five months and cost May and her husband $15,000 (£10,200) to treat.

The cockroach has scuttled in retreat. Bedbugs have become New York, indeed America’s, latest bug noire. These tiny, yellowish creatures (which grow to 4-5mm long), fiendishly difficult to eradicate and understand, have become an obsession for landlords, renters, pest-control experts and scientists. Why do they feed so hungrily on human blood? Why have they proliferated? Why are they so hardy? How can you eradicate them?

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite” now has a particularly hollow ring to it: we are almost powerless to stop them. There has been a 71 per cent increase in bedbug infestations since 2001, according to the US National Pest Management Association. In 2004, there were a reported 537 complaints and 82 “violations” (verified infestations) for bedbugs in New York; in 2009, there were 10,985 complaints and 4,084 verified infestations. “That’s just the reported cases,” says Jeremy Ecker, of Bed Bug Inspectors, a firm that uses two specially trained dogs to sniff out the bugs in apartments before advising occupants and pest exterminators on the best action. “The problem is everywhere, it’s growing and it’s mostly invisible because of people’s embarrassment. People are too ashamed to say anything. If they admit to having bedbugs they’re frightened of losing their apartment, of being asked not to go into work, of getting rid of their possessions. We see people in extreme distress.” >>> Tim Teeman | Monday, May 31, 2010

The Bedbug Registry >>>

‘Bedbugs Don’t Discriminate’: Paris ‘Scourge’ Sparks Fears of International Infestation

GUARDIAN EUROPE: After French capital hosted fashion week and Rugby World Cup there are concerns the problem will spread

Paris is burning its luggage and bed linen as it battles a “scourge” of bedbugs, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report an uptick in inquiries and transport operators and hoteliers seek to assuage concerns.

The city of light is reportedly under siege from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, leading the French transport minister, Clément Beaune, to meet transport operators. “It’s a real nightmare,” says Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris who declined to give his surname. “I’m so afraid to take the Métro, I don’t go to the cinema – it’s very alarmant.”

With the city having just hosted Paris fashion week and the Rugby World Cup, bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city, there are mounting fears of the problem spreading as visitors return home with an unwelcome souvenir. » | Elle Hunt | Friday, October 6, 2023

Related video and articles here.

France closes seven schools over bedbug infestations: Education minister says ‘cases are piling up’ and that ‘an immediate response is needed’ »

Bedbug Epidemic Spreads Across Spain

Reports of bedbug infestations in Spain have risen by 70 per cent
over the past five years

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Huge rise in the number of infestations of parasitic insects reported across Spain

Housing authorities in Madrid are complaining of “a plague of bedbugs” and called for extra measures to tackle the troublesome parasites.

According to pest control experts, the reports of bedbug infestations across Spain have risen by 70 per cent within five years and is now bordering on an “epidemic”.

A residents’ association in the Lavapies district of central Madrid is demanding city authorities provide temporary housing for those affected while their homes are fumigated.

Residents are blaming the proliferation of the insects, which bury themselves deep inside mattresses, on the rise in the number of buildings being squatted in the neighbourhood.

“We never had bedbugs until the squatters moved in,” one neighbour told Spain’s daily El Mundo newspaper. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Friday, May 30, 2014

France: Bedbugs Send Shivers through Paris | DW News

Oct 3, 2023 | A widespread bedbug outbreak has caused an alarming situation in Paris. The French authorities vowed to act as blood-sucking insects infested Paris, which is preparing to host next year's summer Olympics.

City of Light or City of Bites? France Tries to Ease Bedbug Anxiety.: With less than a year to go before millions are expected in Paris for the Olympics, a wave of widely publicized reports of bed bug infestations has put French authorities under pressure. »

Punaises de lit : les transports publics ne connaissent « pas de recrudescence » des cas, selon le gouvernement : Le ministre chargé des transports, Clément Beaune, a demandé, mercredi, à l’ensemble des opérateurs de publier tous les trois mois les données sur les cas signalés, les cas avérés » et « les actions » mises en œuvre. »

Related link here.

France to deploy sniffer dogs to inspect train seats for bedbugs: Public transport including Paris Métro will be checked despite minister’s denial of bedbug outbreak »

Battling Bedbugs
CNN's Ayesha Durgahee looks at a some of the unconventional ways to detect and kill bedbugs

Related here

New York Plans to Ban Smoking Outdoors
THE TELEGRAPH: New York City officials have announced a plan to ban smoking outdoors.

City officials said that the new legislation would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the American city.

That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk.

People who break the ban could be issued with quality-of-life summonses by the parks department. >>> | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NYC Will Pursue Smoking Ban in Parks, Beaches
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Broad extension of city’s smoking ban would mean no smoking in Central Park, on Coney Island boardwalk

New York City wants to take its tough smoking ban outdoors.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials announced Wednesday that they will pursue a broad extension of the city's smoking ban to parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the city.

That would mean no smoking in Central Park, no lighting up on the Coney Island boardwalk and putting the cigarettes away if you're lounging on the traffic-free Broadway pedestrian plaza in Times Square.

Officials said they are basing the proposed law on claims that even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can pose health risks.
“The science is clear: prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke, whether you're indoors or out, hurts your health,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Today, we're doing something about it.” >>> Sara Kugler Frazier, New York , The Associated Press | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

How do New Yorkers put up with Bloomberg? He’s a despicable little tyrant. And I mean little. At 5’6” he’s diminutive! But that means he’s just the sort to have a Napoleonic complex.

This man is tyrannical, arrogant, and self-righteous.

Many years ago, I remember reading that he used to be a chain-smoker. He decided to give up. That was good for his health. Unfortunately, at the same time as he decided to quit, he decided that the whole world should quit smoking along with him. Ex-smokers are often like that. By the way, Google seems to have been purged of all reference to Michael Bloomberg having been a heavy smoker. I wonder why?

I am an ex-smoker; and I have successfully quit. I derived years of pleasure from smoking; but the time came to stop; and I did so. But at the same time, I promised myself that I wouldn’t become an insufferable ex-smoker. That means to say, an ex-smoker who cannot tolerate other people’s smoking faiblesse. In fact, even though I have given up smoking, I am quite happy to be in the company of smokers: it gives me great pleasure to see others enjoying themselves, and feeling relaxed. Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, I am not a killjoy.

I like to think that I take a balanced view of the evils of smoking. Of course it’s not a healthy habit. But then so many things in life aren’t healthy either. Is it healthy to have tattoos? Is it healthy to have piercings? Is it healthy to eat a lot of saturated fat, or salt, or cholesterol-rich foods? Is it healthy to walk for a long period on the sidewalks, or pavements, with vehicles belching out exhaust fumes? What is Mayor Bloomberg going to do about the pollution from the traffic in New York? Surely that is far more injurious to the health of New Yorkers than a small amount of second-hand smoke, sitting next to someone on a park bench in Central Park!

Come to think of it, what is Mayor Bloomberg doing about the infestation of bedbugs there in New York city? I can’t imagine anything more important for him to tackle than bedbugs. I certainly think he’d be better advised to tackle that problem first. The problem is acute.

I remember visiting the Big Apple when times were very different. In those days, not so long ago actually, prior to Bloomberg becoming Mayor of the city, one could enjoy oneself there. Really enjoy oneself. Even though I am a non-smoker, I really can’t imagine getting much enjoyment from a trip to that once great city now. It would be far, far too restricting and oppressive for me. I think I’ll wait for Mayor Bloomberg to be ejected from office before my next visit. Surely it can’t be that much longer before New Yorkers get the great idea of ridding their wonderful city of such a mean-spirited, domineering character. – © Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: New York smoking ban: a lot of huff over not much puff – New York's proposed smoking ban is a bad idea, argues Jenny McCartney. >>> Jenny McCartney | Saturday, September 18, 2010

Bedbug Plague Hits Luton, with ‘Alarming’ Number of Infestations

THE TELEGRAPH: Council's pest control service inundated with calls about the blood-sucking parasites following outbreak in France

A council has warned it does not have the resources to tackle an “alarming” number of callouts for bedbug infestations.

Officials at Luton council say they have been inundated by calls about the bugs, after a national panic in France over the insects being found in cinemas, trains, hospitals and schools.

The infestations in Paris have led to fears the insects could invade the UK, with Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, saying that the possibility of bedbugs on the capital’s public transport was “a real source of concern”.

Councillors in Luton told residents that the city authority “does not have limitless resources to counter this pest”, prompting fears the bugs could spread further.

Writing on its website, the council said: “The pest control service is currently receiving an alarming number of bedbug jobs on a weekly basis.” » | Ewan Somerville | Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Related videos and articles here.

Bedbugs ‘a real source of concern’ on London transport, says Sadiq Khan: Mayor says ‘there is no complacency’ as video appears to show insect on tube after outbreaks reported in Paris »

Bed Bugs vs. NYC: The Battle Is On
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The city that never sleeps? Tell that to New York's bedbugs. The tiny blood suckers specialize in feeding off sleeping bodies and this summer in the Big Apple they're enjoying the pickings of their lives, specialists say.



Related articles here and here

Bedbug Crisis Sparks Political Row in Paris as Insect ‘Scourge’ Continues

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Disgust spreads across country as travellers post videos apparently showing insects on Paris public transport

France’s growing bedbug crisis has sparked a political row as Paris city hall said the invasion of bloodsucking insects must be tackled before next year’s Olympic Games and the transport minister summoned train and bus operators to prevent the bugs multiplying on seats.

A wave of panic and disgust has spread across the country as travellers have posted photos and videos purportedly showing the insects on the Paris local transport system, high-speed trains and at Charles de Gaulle airport.

Some travellers on the Paris Métro or local trains have insisted they will stand up from now on, as they fear sitting on seats. Over the summer, when a Paris cinemagoer posted on social media about bedbugs, cinema companies issued statements about how they treated seats. Meanwhile, fumigation companies have reported an increasing demand to clear private homes. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Friday, September 29, 2023

Punaises de lit : tout ce qu'il faut savoir »

Punaises de lit : une désinfection qui coûte cher aux propriétaires : La loi prévoit que c’est au bailleur de s’acquitter des frais d’élimination des insectes, sauf s’il prouve que le locataire les a introduits. »