CNN —
Dermatologist Zeina Nehme says her practice typically sees a large number of cases in the summer when patients get bed bug bites while traveling. But surprisingly, nothing materialized this year, she says.
But like others who aren’t in dire straits, Nehme has seen a flurry of headlines and social media accounts chronicling bed bug paranoia in Paris. It exploded during fashion week and then spread to other cities, including London.
So during a recent trip to the City of Lights, Nehme decided to undertake an experiment of sorts. The idea is to see one of her troublesome creatures in person and use it as animal feed. social media video.
But Nehme, who is based in Beirut, Lebanon, said she didn’t encounter any of the pesky parasites over the long weekend, either on the subway, in restaurants or in the 17th arrondissement apartment where she stayed with friends.
“I’m a dermatologist and I post a lot on my clinic account, so I thought it would be great to post a reel about bed bugs,” she told CNN Travel. “I actively looked for people to take pictures and reels. Nothing.”
Cynthia Starkey, a Phoenix-based attorney, also kept a close eye on the creatures during a recent trip to Paris with her daughter during a three-month, six-country trip to Europe. But like Nehme, neither of them had been rented on Airbnb or seen on public transportation or anywhere else.
In fact, Starkey said most of the panic about the Paris trip was due to other reasons, such as her sister in the U.S. emailing her asking about the 2024 Summer Olympics. They say they come from friends and family in the area. It was canceled in Paris due to the bedbug situation.
“I thought, ‘This is so unbelievable,'” Starkey told CNN Travel.
Starkey had previously been alerted to the bedbug situation by a journalist friend who lives part-time in Europe, and Starkey’s daughter Mikayla had already done some research online. I was there.
“She’s like, ‘I know this year isn’t going to be any worse than other years, so I’m not worried about it,'” Starkey said. “So if she wasn’t worried, I’m not worried either.”
Such accounts tell a different story than the one portrayed by itch-inducing tabloid headlines and social media accounts showing images of infected mattresses and furniture thrown into alleys.
The reality is a little more nuanced, according to some entomologists and travelers. Bed bugs exist, of course, and there’s a good chance they’re back in numbers in tourist destinations like Paris after a summer of blockbuster travel, but the real situation, while unpleasant, is pretty serious. felt. Rather than getting out of control in the field, it gets exaggerated in the media.
“I think someone just happened to notice it, and for some reason, maybe it was fashion week at the time, all the right things lined up and this just happened to get picked up in the media,” said the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology. told CNN Travel.
“Bed bugs attract people’s attention more than any other pest, but I think it’s more likely that they just attracted attention.” [of the media] Not an actual outbreak. ”
DeVries also said he would not advise travelers to cancel future trips to Europe or other parts of the world because of bed bugs. However, travelers can use the latest headlines as a reminder to be more aware of their surroundings.
“It’s recognizing and realizing that they might be there, but they’re not. I don’t want to use the word paranoid, but I don’t want to travel or do anything anymore. Well, I’m not being paranoid,” DeVries said. “It allows me to balance my travels with a healthy perspective on the environments I might be going to.”
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Models walk the runway at the Stella McCartney Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 2nd.
Reports of bed bugs in Paris began to emerge one after another during Fashion Week, which ran from September 25 to October 3, and several videos of the pests crawling on public transportation were released.
Then the city’s crazy fashionistas started documenting their concerns on social media, and soon mainstream media started picking up the story, too. Paris officials quickly intervened in talks and vowed to take action, with President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party on October 3 announcing a new plan to combat the “scourge” of bedbugs, as reported by French newspaper Le Monde. He promised to introduce a bill.
‘No one is safe’: Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire Posted in X/Twitter, September 29th. “In the face of the bed bug epidemic, we need a coordinated response that brings together health authorities, communities and all stakeholders to prevent risks and act effectively.”
Amid growing panic among Parisians and tourists, French Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau said there was “generally no reason for panic” and that “France is not infested with bedbugs”, adding that the public He appealed to the public to remain calm. Interview on October 3rd Partnered with French outlet France Inter.
But that hasn’t stopped the fear, if not the infection itself, from spreading to other European hotspots, perhaps most notably London. Some travelers began raising concerns that the bugs were hitchhiking on the Eurostar journey from Paris to the British capital.
speak to website Politics Joe, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan The country called the situation a “source of real concern” and said authorities were taking precautions to avoid the problems Paris was facing.
Accurate numbers that accurately record the situation are difficult to come by. One statistic that has been widely circulated in the media is from a study by the French Agency for Food, Environment, Occupational Safety and Health, Ances, which found that at least one in every 10 households in France had suffered from bed bugs in the past five years. I am claiming.
But, as Joe Rominiecki, senior manager of communications for the Entomological Society of America, pointed out, “it’s not really put into context, and it doesn’t even mention this year’s data.”
Anecdotal evidence is also difficult to quantify.
“I had conversations with some colleagues based in Europe, and some of them said, ‘Well, it’s not as bad as you’re hearing,’ and others said, ‘Yes, that’s a problem. ‘Bed bugs are everywhere,” said Richard Pollack, senior director of environmental public health at Harvard University Campus Services (Pollack was speaking on behalf of his employer). ). “But that begs the question: What is the basis on which they made this declaration?”
Moreover, experts point out that the parasite problem is not limited to Paris. Ask anyone who lived in New York in the mid-to-late 2000s, when the Big Apple’s bed bug surge made headlines for weeks, but some point out that the situation may be limited to Paris. . It is easily exaggerated in news reports.
“Yes, the bed bugs were back, but not at the levels reported in the media,” she said, recently returning from a two-week trip to the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to stay bed bug-free. Mr. Pollack, who returned to Japan, said: France. “I would expect that the upcoming Olympics in France will in some way contribute to the level of awareness, fear and fear-mongering.”
In addition to London, Western European countries such as the Netherlands, which are easily accessible by train from Paris, are also monitoring the situation. Dutch public health officials told the English-language NL Times that there appears to be no sign of an outbreak in the Netherlands at this time.
But in Belgium, doctors in Antwerp are “ringing the alarm” about the spread of bedbugs from Paris, according to the Brussels Times.
On the other hand, some airlines are taking a proactive stance. In a statement provided to CNN Travel, an Air France spokesperson said there have been no incidents involving bed bugs onboard aircraft in recent years and that the airline follows strict protocols and recommendations from the World Health Organization when it comes to insect control. Stated.
In addition to normal cleaning procedures, the airline has also put in place specific procedures “to deal with reports of the suspected presence of bed bugs,” including aircraft landings and “authorized service providers.” This includes the implementation of chemical treatments by
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Keeping your suitcase off the floor is one way to protect yourself from bed bugs.
One possible benefit to the recent bed bug hype is that it reminds travelers to take extra steps to stay as safe as possible when it comes to small bed bugs.
Experts thoroughly check hotel rooms for evidence such as reddish-brown marks (or rather, crushed, blood-sucking bugs) along mattress seams and other soft surfaces. We recommend paying attention to the signs. Another smart thing to do is to leave your suitcase in the luggage rack.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, funky odors can also indicate a possible infestation, as bed bugs communicate by emitting chemicals that leave a “sweet or musty odor.”
Travelers who suspect a break-in should take photos and report it to hotel staff immediately. Travel insurance can also come in handy if you have to cancel your reservation, but read the fine print beforehand to find out what’s covered. However, UK-based consumer rights organization Citizens Advice states in its section on bed bugs: “If you don’t complain about bed bugs at the time, it’s very difficult to claim compensation later.”
Don’t forget your efforts even after returning home. If possible, store suitcases away from living areas (Pollack stores suitcases in the basement after a trip) and wash and dry clothes on a high-temperature cycle. For items that can’t be washed, steam them and then freeze them (yes, you can put them directly in the freezer, but be sure to put them in a plastic bag first, Orkin Canada advises).
Some travelers recently shared videos on TikTok of themselves wearing head-to-toe hazmat-style suits and declaring themselves “bedbugs” on a Eurostar train, much like Naomi Campbell on the plane. Like media users, they are taking more precautions. You’re not going to get me. ”
For others, there is no way they can safely travel to places where incidents have been recorded.
Colleen Oakley, a best-selling Atlanta novelist, told CNN Travel that she would “never travel” to Paris now, after a “terrible” encounter with a creepy crawly in 2006. She will stay in a hotel for three weeks before receiving treatment in an apartment in New York’s West Village neighborhood.
“I had PTSD for years,” she said. “Bed bugs are a pain to get rid of, they’re time-consuming and expensive, and for weeks I can’t be sure if I’ve caught them all, and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety. It seems silly, but bugs are really invasive, and it’s definitely not worth the vacation, at least for me.”
