Feed on human blood! Bed bug crisis breaks out in many countries and has spread to Asia!

Faded from people's sight for many years

Bed Bugs

Recently it has become active again

Bed bug crisis breaks out in many countries

According to reports

Bed bugs are not only rampant in the UK, France and other European countries

Recently, I have also "crossed the ocean"

Spread to South Korea

Bed bugs, also known as bed bugs, feed mainly on human blood and are usually active at night, hiding in mattresses or box springs and migrating through clothing and luggage. Although the human body reacts to its bites in different ways, most of them manifest as redness, swelling and itching of the skin.

“Having bed bugs in your home is like a nightmare”

According to reports, this wave of bedbug crisis originated in France, from late August to early September, bedbugs were found in many theaters, hospitals, subways and other places. Many people were bitten by bedbugs and became red and swollen, which led to constant public complaints. More than 20 schools in France had to be temporarily closed due to bedbugs. The UK, which has frequent traffic with France, also encountered a bedbug crisis.

The French Minister of Health and Disease Prevention even said that bed bugs are really abominable. "When you see bed bugs around you, when you find bed bugs in your home, it's like a nightmare."

French UGC owns about 50 cinemas across the country. Many of them were infested with bedbugs, and many viewers complained about being bitten by bedbugs and suffering from redness and swelling. UGC apologized to the viewers but hinted that it would not compensate them, arguing that bedbugs were also found in other public places and homes.

A recently released government report shows that about 11% of households in France are troubled by bed bugs, and many people's insomnia, psychological problems, absenteeism from work and school are caused by bed bugs.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reported on October 16 that in recent months, bed bugs have been frequently found in hotels, subways, cinemas, hospitals and other places in many cities in France, Britain and other countries. In particular, hotels and other businesses, fearing that their business would be affected or even lead to lawsuits due to bed bug bites, have taken measures to prevent and control bed bugs, including introducing sniffer dogs, placing new monitoring devices, and hiring professional pest control companies.

Rentokil Initial, a British pest control company, said that the number of bed bug removal orders it received in the UK market in the second quarter of this year increased by 65% ​​year-on-year.

The bed bug crisis that has caused anxiety and panic in European countries has not eased, and has now spread to South Korea. According to Yonhap News Agency, as of November 6, 17 cities and provinces across South Korea have received more than 30 reports of bed bug infestations.

In mid-October, a South Korean blogger claimed on a social media platform that bed bugs were found in a sauna in Incheon, a city in the central and western part of the country. Later, the relevant authorities found a total of 8 bed bugs in the gaps in the floor under the sauna mat. After that, bed bugs were also found in a dormitory of a private university in Daegu, southeastern South Korea. The school suspected that these bed bugs were brought in by foreign exchange students who came to South Korea during the summer vacation. It is reported that the bed where the bed bugs were found was previously used by British students.

The bedbug crisis then spread to Seoul. As of the end of October, bedbugs were found in 18 of Seoul's 25 districts, including Yongsan District, where the South Korean presidential palace is located. Bedbugs were even found in a restaurant. In addition, bedbugs were also reported in the Examination Yuan in the shantytown area of ​​Namdaemun, Seoul. This "Examination Yuan" is actually a cheap small dormitory.

Many people in South Korea are in a panic because of the infestation of bedbugs. They don't want to sit on subway seats or go to the cinema for fear of being bitten by bedbugs and bringing them home. On the subway, people would rather stand than sit on the cloth seats.

In response to the continuous reports of bed bugs, Seoul City announced on the 3rd that it would establish a bed bug reporting and management system, and planned to inspect more than 3,000 accommodation places and saunas with high risk of bed bug outbreaks. In addition, Seoul City also urgently allocated 500 million won (about 2.78 million yuan) to improve the sanitation of shanty towns, examination halls, subways, buses and other public transportation facilities and strengthen bed bug prevention and control. According to the Hankyoreh on the 9th, the South Korean government has now established a "Bed Bug Joint Response Headquarters" and has also specially produced a bed bug information manual.

Yang Yong-chul, a professor at the Department of Health, Environment and Safety at Eulji University in South Korea, analyzed that the number of foreign tourists to South Korea has increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic, and "most of the bed bugs found in South Korea have flowed in from overseas." He warned that bed bugs spread quickly and are difficult to eliminate, and will spread to a wide area in a short period of time.

Ye Yip-fan, a member of the Hong Kong Pest Control Practitioners Association, said that the "bed bug storm" in foreign countries has attracted the attention of Hong Kong people. Taking his pest control company as an example, the number of inquiries received from citizens has soared by nearly 40% in recent days, with nearly 50 cases in the past week. In the discussion area on bed bugs and bed bugs on social networks, many Hong Kong citizens showed traces of bed bugs in their homes, including on the bed or sofa, and there are many middle-class families among them. A netizen named Chen asked for help on the social networking site: "I am traveling now. The room in the hostel is very dirty. There are many bugs crawling on the wall. There are also redness and swelling on the back and chest. It seems to be lice, and I brought it back to Hong Kong..."

The chairman of the Hong Kong Pest Management Association, Chan Tak-sum, said that bed bugs can be spread to all parts of the world by plane, through train, railway or ship, and it is believed that the infestation is not limited to the UK, France and South Korea. South Korea is one of the popular travel destinations for Hong Kong people. The wheels of suitcases may "hide lice". If there are bed bugs, it will be very troublesome to bring them home.

Why are bed bugs so scary?

The report said that the reason why Korean people are so panicked is that it is not easy to completely eliminate bed bugs. Bed bugs are nocturnal insects. They are accustomed to hiding in areas such as mattresses and sofas during the day, and come out at night to suck human blood and disturb sleep. Although bed bugs do not transmit diseases to humans, if you are accidentally bitten by bed bugs, it is likely to cause skin itching or even symptoms of infection, such as blisters or urticaria, and severe cases may also cause high fever.

Yang Yong-chul, a professor at the Department of Health and Environmental Safety at Eulji University in South Korea, said: "At most three or four mosquitoes will bite at the same time, but there may be 30 to 50 bedbugs sucking blood at the same time, which will cause severe itching symptoms and bring mental stress and troubles."

According to media reports, Zhao Li, curator of Chengdu Huaxi Insect Museum, said that bed bugs are also known as bed bugs, wall lice, wood lice, flat mantis, etc. They belong to the class Insecta, order Hemiptera, family Cimexidae. Bed bugs have scent glands that can secrete smelly fluid, which mainly serves to defend against natural enemies and promote mating. Wherever bed bugs crawl, they leave an unpleasant odor, hence the name bed bug.

Bed bugs are wingless and small, and they go through three stages in their life cycle: egg, nymph, and adult. The eggs of bed bugs are oval, milky white, and about 1 mm long. The newly hatched nymphs undergo five molts before developing into adults, which are 4 to 5 mm long and flat and oval in shape. Bed bugs can mate 2 to 3 days after emergence, and the females begin to lay eggs a few days after sucking blood. They reproduce 3 to 4 generations a year in temperate regions and 5 to 6 generations in tropical regions.

Hemiptera insects have an important medical characteristic - biting people. Bed bugs like to suck the blood of humans and animals. When people are bitten by bed bugs, they will experience symptoms of skin redness, swelling, inflammation, itching and pain, and sometimes spread other diseases. If there are bed bugs in the bed, it is easy to affect the quality of sleep and bring great trouble to life.

In my country, tropical bed bugs are mainly distributed in the south of the Yangtze River, while temperate bed bugs are distributed in all parts of my country. Bed bugs mainly live in indoor walls, cracks in wooden furniture, straw mats, bed mats, etc., or in the cracks in tables and chairs in transportation and public places. Bed bugs have a clustering phenomenon, hiding during the day and active at night to suck blood. They have no strict conditions for selecting hosts. In addition to humans, they will also suck the blood of other mammals, even birds.

Although a variety of pathogens, including hepatitis B virus and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, have been isolated from bed bugs, there is no evidence that bed bugs are carriers of some viruses and bacteria, so the probability of bed bug bites spreading diseases to humans is much lower than that of other insects. The harm to humans is mainly manifested in severe allergies and mental damage. Some people suffer from nightmares, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and even suicide after being bitten by bed bugs.

If you are bitten by a bed bug, you can use soapy water or baking soda to wash, or use floral water or compound calamine lotion to relieve itching. If there is suppuration, you can apply erythromycin ointment locally. If the infection is more serious, you need to take oral anti-inflammatory drugs. If the local area is red, swollen, hot, and has a fever, you should consider allergies, combine anti-allergic treatment, and seek medical attention in time.

How to prevent bed bugs from entering your home?

Keep your home clean and tidy, including cleaning and vacuuming regularly, avoiding second-hand furniture that has not been disinfected, replacing peeling wallpaper as soon as possible, and filling gaps in walls and floors.

Spray your luggage with insecticide before returning home from a trip

Before going home, find an open space to put your luggage and spray it with commercially available insecticide to kill insects, paying attention to corners and gaps.

Wash clothes with high-temperature steam or hot water

Physical pest control methods can also be used for items such as clothes, including using a steam machine to kill lice at high temperatures and washing clothes in hot water at 60 to 80 degrees for at least 20 seconds.