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Experts suggest Paris’ bedbug infestation is nothing to fret over. News broke out that the city in France was fighting to manage a huge bedbug problem amid Paris Fashion Week, so countless American were concerned people might bring them back to the states. Read more about it and watch these creators make light out of a pretty dark situation.
It’s normal to feel nervous about a potential bedbug infestation in the U.S. as major events like Paris Fashion Week made headlines over the last few weeks. Fortunately for Americans, experts say that what’s happening in Paris isn’t unprecedented. They also suggest that an outbreak in the U.S. is unlikely.
According to many videos circulating online, Paris is riddled with bedbugs looking to come with you on the bus, train, hotel, luggage and more. People are documenting their bedbug battles after traveling from Paris and it has sparked a fear of future infestations elsewhere.
While bedbugs can be overwhelming, the mere idea of them is more harmful than the actual threat of having them.
“Bedbugs are not everywhere, but they can be anywhere,” Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist with Cornell University and coordinator of the New York State Integrated Pest Management community program shared with USA Today. “If there are blood-feeding critters roaming in your bed and you can’t see them, but you feel every little itch, it can be overwhelming and lead to sleepless nights, anxiety and shame.”
What’s happening in Paris could do more harm to your mental health and entomologists recommend being mindful of this, because it’s a pretty normal issue around the world.
“We’ve been dealing with bedbugs in the U.S. in a very big way since about the year 2000,” Gangloff-Kaufmann said. “Paris is the same; London is the same; Australia is the same – everyone’s had this resurgence. So it’s nothing new.”
As Paris prepares for the 2024 Olympics, the bad bedbug press is not helpful at all. If it’s any constellation, experts share that it is unlikely that the U.S. will experience a surge in bedbugs.
Jerome Goddard, who is an extension professor of medical and veterinary entomology at Mississippi State University, who has studied bedbugs’ psychological toll says, “We have them here. They have them there.”
The best thing to do to reduce stress and anxiety is to prepare before bedbugs become an actual threat. Be sure to learn about where they come from, how to tell if a hotel or your bed has them and what to do if you actually find the little critters.
Check out more prevention information here.
In the meantime, as the world is crumbling right before our eyes, can we just laugh about it for a moment:
