‘Hong Kong is like Disneyland for bedbugs’: Infestation fears spark rise in insecticide sales, pest control bookings

Henry Cheng Kwok-hang, a consultant at Ivy Pest Control Corporation, said the firm had also seen an increase in bedbug call-outs.

“We’d normally have eight to 10 a month, but we’ve had 20 already this month,” he said.

Cheng put down the increase in business to raised awareness, not because there were more bugs between the sheets.

He said most of the requests involved people in densely populated districts such as Kwun Tong, Kwai Chung, Wong Tai Sin and Tuen Mun.

Yuen agreed a bedbug problem had existed for decades in Hong Kong, but because of recent reports in the media and viral content online, people had become more aware of them.

He added authorities should concentrate on the prevention of an outbreak next spring, when bedbug eggs would hatch during humid weather.

“From November, Hong Kong will become cooler and the humidity will decrease, so it is not a suitable climate for many insects, including bedbugs,” he said.

Yuen said authorities should try to tackle bedbugs just before the weather became hot again, as they did with mosquitoes.

He insisted that the public did not have to be too worried and that good hygiene and careful checking of items brought from infected areas should be enough to avoid an infestation.

“Insecticide powder and liquid available over the counter are effective in killing bedbugs if used correctly,” Yuen said. “Nevertheless, the application should be carried out by professional pest control operators who have experience in searching infested sites.”