Psychosis continues to gain ground around bedbugs. In recent weeks, the presence of these small insects has been reported in Parisian cinemas, trains and metros, a Toulouse hospital, a Marseille college and even in the waiting area of Roissy airport. If all these cases are not proven, their media coverage has generated a wave of panic in the country.
Faced with growing anxiety, an interministerial meeting is planned for this Friday. The government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, promises to “quickly provide answers to the French”. But concretely, what avenues can be considered? 20 minutes looked into the subject.
Monitor the phenomenon
The first step would be to simply identify the phenomenon. “We do not know today if there are more bedbugs in France than in 2019, because there are no health surveillance tools for what is becoming a public health problem,” Bruno Studer said on Tuesday. MP Renaissance is at the origin, with his colleagues Sylvain Maillard and Robin Reda, of a bill on the subject which should be presented to the Assembly at the beginning of December.
An interministerial plan on bedbugs dating from March 2022 already aimed to observe and monitor the phenomenon, with the launch of a national observatory in September 2022. Result, a year later: a digital platform “Stop-punaises.beta.gouv.fr” is only being tested in the Bouches-du-Rhône and Rhône departments.
To see the extent of the infestation in real time, the city of New York, in the United States, which has long fought against the invasion of bedbugs, has created a site to encourage anyone who has bedbugs in her home to report them, in order to warn her neighbors as quickly as possible.
Inform the population
Demonstrating pedagogy also seems necessary. “Knowing how to physically recognize a bedbug and the traces it leaves is essential,” explains Stéphane Bras, spokesperson for the 3D Trade Union Chamber (of the Pest Control, Disinfestation and Disinfection industries). Being informed would allow you to have good reflexes in terms of prevention, detection but also solutions to put in place when faced with an invasion of bedbugs. Launching a vast information campaign was precisely one of the six axes of the interministerial plan of March 2022. The aim of this measure: “to raise awareness among individuals and professionals most exposed in order to prevent and identify the infestation as early as possible”.
Limit the price of disinfestation interventions
Among the measures envisaged by the government, the Minister of Health expressed his wish to limit the prices of disinfestation interventions. “What concerns me is that people don’t get cheated with boxes that make them pay 2,000 or 3,000 euros” to rid them of these bedbugs, Aurélien Rousseau said on Tuesday, denouncing “abuses”.
To deal with this problem, Stéphane Bras believes that “we can do pooling, with a special fund supplemented by social landlords for example”.
Direct individuals towards recognized professionals
The quality of the work of pest control companies is indeed very uneven. For Stéphane Bras, “when you are sick, you go to see a doctor registered with the Order of Physicians. You must do the same in this case by contacting a professional who has completed training validated by government services. » The Minister of Health recalled this Tuesday the existence of 450 to 480 “approved professionals”, to be found here And there.
Clarify responsibilities between landlords and tenants
The 2022 interministerial plan intended to “clarify the responsibilities between landlords and tenants”. However, in France, since 2018, the law specifies that the owner of the home is required to pay for the disinfestation. In the United States, the State of New York has gone further by requiring landlords to warn their tenants of the presence of bedbugs in their accommodation over the last twelve months. Objective: force owners to process their property in the hope of finding a tenant.
Prohibit the abandonment of mattresses without packaging
We once again take the American example. To avoid proliferation, New York has prohibited its residents from leaving their mattresses in the street without wrapping them, even without signs of infestation. If there is no plastic wrap around the mattress, they will be fined $100. For Stéphane Bras, this precautionary policy is a good thing. “If people know how to recognize the signs of bedbugs, they can pick up furniture in the street or buy second hand because they will also know, if necessary, what to do to treat them if they can bring them into their home. »
The professional tempers, however. “If New York policy has allowed residents to take good citizen actions in the face of the risk of bedbugs, no one can prevent bedbugs from entering cities since they walk with us. »