France shuts 7 schools as bedbug scare intensifies

France's Education Minister Gabriel Attal has ordered the closure of seven schools amid growing concerns over an infestation of bedbugs across the country.

Government officials held meetings last week to address the escalating bedbug crisis that has sparked a political row in the European Union's largest country.

As France hosts the rugby world cup and with only nine months until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, politicians are demanding a solution to the bedbug issue that has created a nationwide panic, stoked by media attention.

The Education Ministry confirmed on Friday that five more schools affecting about 1,500 students had been closed, adding to two schools in southeastern France that had already shut down for cleaning earlier in the week.

Speaking to France 5 television, Attal said: "Bedbugs were detected at various levels in … I believe 17 institutions, and currently as I speak to you, seven institutions are closed for this reason.

"We have almost 60,000 institutions and we're only talking about a few dozen here, but it's true that cases are piling up," Attal said. "An immediate response is needed, so that we can have institutions treated within 24 hours."

Bedbugs, small, wingless insects that hide in bedding and feed on human blood, are considered a nuisance, but there's no evidence they transmit diseases.

Reports of bedbug sightings and bites have emerged from rail travelers, cinema-goers and social media influencers visiting Paris for Fashion Week, prompting orders for airports, and train and bus operators to prevent the bugs multiplying on seats.

Reuters reported that a mixture of media hysteria, political opportunism and national anxiety has arisen over the potential threat the tiny creatures might pose to the Olympic Games.

Last week, leftist lawmaker Mathilde Panot presented a vial allegedly containing bedbugs in Parliament, rebuking government inaction and conveying to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne that the issue was widespread.

Entomologist Jean-Michel Berenger told French newspaper Le Monde the current bedbug resurgence is due to their resistance to milder insecticides and the banning of insecticides that are potent, yet dangerous to humans, like DDT.

Pest control experts say the recent increase in bedbug numbers in Paris partially correlates with the resurgence of tourism following the global COVID-19 pandemic, as bedbugs often travel via clothing and luggage.

A French organization of pest control companies cited by Reuters reported a 65-percent increase in bedbug service requests during the June-August period compared with the same timeframe last year.

Nicolas Roux de Bezieux, co-founder of a French pest control consultancy, said: "Of course we have more bedbugs than before, like every big city in the world. But it's not the explosion you would think when watching television."

Rob Smith, an entomology professor at the University of Huddersfield in the UK, told MailOnline other countries may be affected by outbreaks.

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