Is London prepared for the mutant bedbug invasion that has swarmed Paris?

Lovers beware. Paris has been engulfed by an infestation of bedbugs with authorities warning “no-one is safe”.

Footage of the blood-sucking insects has horrifed TikTok users, leading to some standing on the infested Parisian metro instead of sitting on the fabric seats, or posting warning about the creepy critters swarming all over their Airbnb rentals.

Speaking to French TV station LCI on Friday, deputy mayor of Paris Emmanuel Gregoire called the infestation “widespread.”

“You have to understand that in reality no one is safe, obviously there are risk factors but in reality, you can catch bedbugs anywhere and bring them home,” he said.

But should Londoners be concerned with a comfortable journey on the fabric seats of the Eurostar just two hours away?

Yes is the short answer. With a typical lifespan of 4-6 months and a penchant for hitching rides on dirty suitcases, it is very possible they can make the 2hr16 trip from the City of Love to the Big Smoke.

One bedbug expert from Bed Bugs Ltd, based in London, says the creatures are already here but could even increase in numbers with the Paris epidemic.

The Independent asked David Cain, founder and MD of Bed Bugs LTD and a qualified microbiologist, whether the bugs could survive the journey.

He said: “Easily, yes, without a shadow of a doubt. I have known people go on daytrips to Paris not even staying in hotels or other high-risk activities and come back with them. Paris has been a popular link for the last six years.

“Business is already booming I started doing this in 2005 when bedbugs were rare and obscure but not anymore.

“If everyone had listened to me in 2006 and started a public education campaign this wouldn’t be happening.

“They don’t know and check when you travel you don’t get them. Check your home and you will never take them to the office, the cinema, you don’t take them to doctor’s surgery.

“You won’t be the first person in your office who has had them. there’s so much psychological ingrined in the national psyche

“Some people who seem to have it all together simply turn into a jibbering wreck.

“So much of our website is dedicated to psychology and emotional support. People are scared by what they don’t understand but we understand what you are going through.”

He added: “There is no medication that will prevent bedbugs. They tried to recommend Ivermectin the one Trump thought could stop him from getting Covid then got it a couple of days later. It’s a nasty drug.

“I’m one of few people in the UK who have administered the medicine. On the instructions it says don’t use it more than twice in a year or it will kill the kidneys.

“You will need a transplant in 4-6 years.”

His best advice: “Baking soda and an ice cube make a paste apply it to the skin for 30 seconds.”

Xural.com