A leading disaster expert warns the UK is “unprepared” for a bedbug infestation as the threat, which has already gripped Paris, draws ever closer, The Independent informs.
France is facing a skyrocketing number of infestation reports, prompting a French MP to bring a test tube filled with dead insects to the Parliament. He hoped to draw attention to the problem in such a way, warning that bedbugs were “proliferating in all daily living spaces,” turning the lives of millions of people into “a living hell.”
The insect frenzy has caused concern for Tube passengers who are now questioning whether to board the subways. Disaster management expert Professor Lucy Easthope noted the country’s unpreparedness for the threat on X, formerly Twitter:
I promise you this… Britain is not ready for an invasion of bed bugs.
Experts have been pointing to the rising threat of bedbugs for years, with pest control company Rentokil warning back in August of a 65 per cent increase in infestations across the UK since 2022.
Bedbugs are small insects that feed on blood, causing itchy, sometimes even painful, bites. However, they do not spread or carry any diseases.
The National Health Service warns that bedbugs can hide in bed frames, mattresses, clothing, furniture and under old wallpaper.
“Bed bugs are becoming resistant to insecticides that we normally use to kill them. We are also seeing increasing travel which helps them to spread.”
Professor Robert Smith of the University of Huddersfield:
Bed bugs can be hard to get rid of because they live for many months and hide in cracks and crevices during the day.
The professor claims that the most effective way to get rid of pests is “professional help from a local council or pest control company.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told ITV about the cleaning work being carried out by Transport for London and advised passengers to remain “vigilant.”
“The good news is there is no evidence of those issues in London. There is no complacency at all – lots of preventative measures. I want to reassure everybody public transport is safe in London but we have to keep on being vigilant to make sure all steps that can be taken are taken to make sure we’re not seeing in London what we are seeing in France.”
