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Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

theguardian.com

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Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#41

Post by david-gpu »

guntherhermann wrote: post #33
kergonath wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not unique to Paris. It is a scourge in the UK as well, and an American friend told me that it was a problem in New York as well (I know, not a great source… I read NYT articles about that but they don’t immediately show up in my history).

I live in the UK (north), and I've never in my life heard of anyone dealing with bedbugs here, and can corroborate with the sibling that the only time I've ever heard about them is through US popular culture shows (I thought they were just a warm-climate bug)

Lucky you! The only time I've had to deal with bedbugs was in the UK (Brighton, in winter) and getting rid of them was as much of a PITA as everybody says.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#42

Post by leke »

guntherhermann wrote: post #33
kergonath wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not unique to Paris. It is a scourge in the UK as well, and an American friend told me that it was a problem in New York as well (I know, not a great source… I read NYT articles about that but they don’t immediately show up in my history).

I live in the UK (north), and I've never in my life heard of anyone dealing with bedbugs here, and can corroborate with the sibling that the only time I've ever heard about them is through US popular culture shows (I thought they were just a warm-climate bug)

Yep, I also went to Paris and got bit on the train, then in the hotel every night. They were also in the suitcase when I got home, but luckily I read up on how to deal with them and killed them all.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#43

Post by thelastparadise »

wincy wrote: post #38
actionfromafar wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your colleagues can’t afford AirBnB? Where do you people work anyway?

[flagged]

That's rude. I see no such "dog whistle" in his post and he makes a rather reasonable argument.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#44

Post by wincy »

kergonath wrote: post #10
baz00 wrote: post #7

I've just removed that AirBnB weekend in Paris from my things to do this year list :)

It’s not unique to Paris. It is a scourge in the UK as well, and an American friend told me that it was a problem in New York as well (I know, not a great source… I read NYT articles about that but they don’t immediately show up in my history).

We had an in home care nurse who watched our disable infant daughter go on a trip to Abu Dhabi trip, and brought back bed bugs. The nursing company tried to act like this was our responsibility, and tried to act like it was our fault, as if we’d made bedbugs appear ex nihilo.

Luckily a lifetime ago I was a licensed exterminator and got it sorted. Treating for bed bugs is not fun, though, and part of the reason I got out of the pest control game. It involves either laboriously treating with chemicals in hard to reach places or wearing a tin foil suit and literally blasting your bedroom with heat to get it to 140°F (60C) or so to kill all of the bedbugs.

It’s been a few years and I’ve never seen another one, but definitely felt like I dodged a bullet.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#45

Post by samastur »

onion2k wrote: post #21
unsupp0rted wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a thing of the past that couldn't possibly resurface in the present day What would be stopping them?

A likely candidate would be modern materials used in mattresses and bedlinen.

They are not mites and happily live elsewhere.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#46

Post by thelastparadise »

actionfromafar wrote: post #31
eastbound wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Your colleagues can’t afford AirBnB? Where do you people work anyway?

Hint: the phrase "you people" can be interpreted as hostile/divisive.

In case English is not your first language...

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#47

Post by kergonath »

basisword wrote: post #24
kergonath wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not unique to Paris. It is a scourge in the UK as well, and an American friend told me that it was a problem in New York as well (I know, not a great source… I read NYT articles about that but they don’t immediately show up in my history).

>> It is a scourge in the UK as well Do you mean in AirBnB’s or generally? Fwiw I don’t know or know of anyone in the UK that has ever dealt with bedbugs. They’re a thing I’ve only heard about in TV shows set in NYC.

> Do you mean in AirBnB’s or generally?

Generally. In any case they get carried very easily in clothes or suitcases and you need only a couple of them to start an infestation somewhere else. If they are in AirBnBs, it means that there are also in a lot of houses.

I got some in a London flat. A friend of mine got some in Manchester. They are not that common, but they are on the rise, which is concerning. It’s like early COVID, nobody has it until everybody does.

See for example https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/aug/19/bedbugs-heat... from a couple of years ago, or https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bed-bugs-epi... .

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#48

Post by kergonath »

guntherhermann wrote: post #33
kergonath wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not unique to Paris. It is a scourge in the UK as well, and an American friend told me that it was a problem in New York as well (I know, not a great source… I read NYT articles about that but they don’t immediately show up in my history).

I live in the UK (north), and I've never in my life heard of anyone dealing with bedbugs here, and can corroborate with the sibling that the only time I've ever heard about them is through US popular culture shows (I thought they were just a warm-climate bug)

We don’t really know why they are coming back. But the fact that they used to be everywhere less than a century ago should make everyone think about protective strategies, instead of thinking that they are someone else’s problem. This is not “lol Paris” (or “lol AirBnB” like some say in other posts), this is a Europe-wide public health problem in the making.

AFAICT the number of infestations grew 65% in a year in the UK. A couple of years at that rate and even if you’ve never seen any yet, you are likely to know them intimately.

Re: Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues

#50

Post by tourist2d »

thelastparadise wrote: post #46
actionfromafar wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your colleagues can’t afford AirBnB? Where do you people work anyway?

Hint: the phrase "you people" can be interpreted as hostile/divisive. In case English is not your first language...

Hint: your comment can be interpreted as hostile/divisive.
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