Two schools – one in Marseille and the other in Villefranche-sur-Saone outside Lyon in southeastern France – have become infected with bedbugs and have been closed down for several days to be cleaned out, local authorities said.
Meanwhile, the head of Macron’s Renaissance party in the French National Assembly, Sylvain Maillard, said Tuesday a cross-party Bill would be put forward “at the beginning of December” to combat the “scourge” of bedbugs.
Bedbugs, which had largely disappeared from daily life by the 1950s, have appeared in greater numbers in recent decades, mostly due to high population densities, people taking more holidays and mass transit.
One in 10 French households are believed to have had a bedbug problem over the past few years, usually requiring a pest control operation costing several hundreds of euros that often needs to be repeated.
Bedbugs get their name from their habit of nesting in mattresses, although they can also hide in clothes and in luggage. They come out at night to feed on human blood.
Bedbug bites leave blisters or large rashes on the skin, and can cause intense itching or allergic reactions.
They also often cause psychological distress, sleeping issues, anxiety and depression.
Source: CNA
