Rugby fans are set to bring hordes of French bedbugs back to Britain, experts fear.
England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland could all qualify for the latter stages of the tournament. But that would mean fans spending prolonged periods in Paris where some of the quarter-finals, both semis and the final will be played.
The pesky parasites are over-running homes, hospitals and public transport in the French capital. They have been spotted in posh restaurants, hotels and even in the city’s Charles-de-Gaulle Airport.
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Experts fear they will sneak across the Channel with returning rugby supporters – sparking a full-scale invasion. Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire tweeted: "No-one is immune.’’
Eurostar and Transport for London are monitoring the situation. Videos have appeared on social media of dozens of the bugs crawling on Paris Metro trains.
Eurostar bosses have vowed to disinfect trains if they find any sign of the bugs. A spokesman for the train company said: "The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our number one priority and the presence of insects such as bed bugs on our trains is extremely rare.
"The textile surfaces on all of our trains are cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis and this involves hot-water injection and extraction cleaning, which has proven highly effective in eliminating bugs.’’
TfL said it was not yet aware of any outbreaks in London but added: "We will monitor our network and continue our rigorous and thorough cleaning measures which have been proven to keep both the interior and exterior of our trains clean.’’
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Mihail Velev at Fantastic Pest Control, said it was very likely bedbugs from Paris will spread to the UK via people travelling by plane or Eurostar. "Bedbugs can hang onto your clothes or suitcase and travel the world along with you,’’ he said.
"There are no particular disinfecting areas, especially for different types of pests, for your luggage or yourself when flying so the chances are pretty high.’’
Paris has had a long-standing bedbug issue with one in 10 flat-dwellers experiencing them in the past five years. But the number of sightings has soared recently causing panic across the city.
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The French Government fears the outbreak could overshadow next year’s (2024) Paris Olympics.
James Logan, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Once you have an infestation they breed incredibly quickly – all you need is one pregnant female to be in your suitcase and it will come out and lay hundreds of eggs.
"They hatch and breed within a matter of weeks and then you have thousands. So they can explode very quickly.
"We usually use toxic insecticides to kill them but they are now becoming resistant to them.’’
According to personal finance site Moneyzine.com hiring pest controllers to clear a four-bedroom house of bedbugs costs around £230.
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