During the past few days, France has entered into a “state of war” against a new type of enemy. It is not an external enemy that threatens the country’s borders, or an internal enemy that has established its cells within it, or even a virus like “Covid-19” with all its mutations. Rather, this enemy is an insect, known as “bedbug.”
Because war is about fear, the French are afraid. Some of them no longer dare to use the train for their transportation. Others refuse to take the metro, the easiest and fastest means of transportation in Paris. Fear has spread to the schools where the students are, but their families also refuse to enter some of them. Cinema halls have lost many of their patrons, and the government is confused and does not yet know how to deal with this new kind of war.
Some French people are afraid to use public transportation in Paris (EPA)
It is a war without missiles or bullets, and of course without deaths. But it is a source of anxiety and inconvenience; Because it takes place inside homes. Because some extremist political parties do not hesitate to exploit everything that serves their propaganda and ideology, the far right has held refugees and immigrants responsible.
An alarming spread
For those who do not know what “bed bugs” are, they are annoying insects that are difficult to get rid of. They spread on sofas, pillows, mattresses, and old furniture, reproduce quickly, and live by sucking blood. The best way to get rid of them is to put the contaminants in refrigerators. Because this is a worrying phenomenon in France, specialized companies that own refrigerators the size of containers are today unable to respond to the orders being bombarded with them. Large bags filled with clothes, sofas and curtains are thrown into refrigerators where the temperature drops below forty degrees. The funniest way to detect the presence of “bed bugs” is to use trained dogs that are able, thanks to their highly developed sense of smell, to detect their presence in the home, office, or movie theater. One of the owners of these dogs said that visiting a suspicious house costs about 175 euros.
Preparations to eliminate “bed bugs” in a Paris store (AFP)
To date, the government has not found a magic solution to confront this phenomenon, especially in schools, 7 of which were closed due to the discovery of these harmful insects that target humans and leave their marks on them in the form of bloody stains. Bed bugs were detected “at various levels” in 17 schools, according to what the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, said (Friday evening) to a television channel. A teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, noted that “there is a state of psychosis among the parents and students.” She added: “I constantly receive letters from parents saying that they will not send their children as long as bed bugs are present.”
Travelers wait for the train at the Nord Train station in Paris on October 7 (AFP)
However, what is most important about this phenomenon is that it causes a state of panic among anyone who suspects its presence in their home, specifically in their bed, especially since its transmission from one place to another is very easy. The government’s reassurances, expressed by Transport Minister Clement Beaune, were of no use, who confirmed that “bed bugs do not exist” in France. The government considers that there is an “exaggeration” in talking about its wide spread. It is not known how it reappeared in France, and whether its source was local or arrived from abroad, as was the case, for example, in the case of the “Covid-19” epidemic.
The government is in trouble
To date, bedbugs have not been observed arriving in hotels, or they may have arrived, but the owners avoid revealing this for fear of repercussions on customers. However, Agence France-Presse succeeded in communicating with a woman named Marie-Christine Gesta (72 years old), who has been working to combat “bed bugs” for years. She confirmed that she discovered them during her stay in a hotel, whose name or location she did not reveal.
The French Minister of Transport during a press briefing in Paris on October 4 (EPA)
This phenomenon has spread while France is hosting the World Rugby Championship, and is preparing to host the Olympic Games next summer, and it has no interest at all in the spread of these insects expanding. It is funny that there are passengers on trains and metro cars who refuse to sit or approach the seats, and look anxiously at anyone who approaches them.
Last week, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called for a joint meeting of ministers concerned with this phenomenon in order to develop a plan of action. Treating a school or building requires removing its residents, closing it, and treating annoying insects with chemicals. How to discover it in homes is by turning off the lights at night, and searching for it using small lamps for lighting, especially in the mattresses and in the corners where it hides, waiting for its victims.
Mass panic
The panic caused by “bed bugs” prompts some people to get rid of their old furniture. It is no longer a rare occurrence for a stroller in the streets of Paris to notice sofas and beds placed in the street, with a warning that “bedbugs” are nesting in them. These insects are no longer only a cause of inconvenience, but they also cause a state of panic.
Bed bugs caused panic in Paris (EPA)
Psychiatrist Antoine Belisolo from the Henri Mondor University Hospital in the city of Crete, southeast of Paris, was quoted as diagnosing the existence of “a state of mass panic, represented by the fact that people who do not have bed bugs feel anxious about the presence of these insects, and sometimes with something.” Of obsession.” Meanwhile, Marie Evroy, director of the Eco-Fleet company and head of the National Institute for the Study and Control of Bed Bugs, spoke about how this phenomenon causes, among those who suffer from it, what she called “post-traumatic stress syndrome.”
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2023-10-09 13:18:42
