International summer travel plans could fuel Britain’s growing bedbug crisis, experts have warned, as
UK infestations continue to rise. New figures reveal callouts to councils about bedbugs in 2023 were up 23 per cent on the previous year. Bedbugs are small insects that often live on furniture and bedding. They feed on blood, and can travel by climbing into suitcases and clothing. The 2024
Paris Olympics in July could help fuel this rise in infestations, according to James Logan, scientist and CEO of Arctech Innovation. “This year is the Olympics in Paris. Big events like that mean people are traveling more than normal, so we might see more transportation of bedbugs,” he said. “There is also likely to be a continued increase in infestations in the UK this summer.” Professor Logan told i the numbers of infestations in the UK are on the rise due to international travel habits and global warming, among other factors. “Part of the reason is that we travel a lot. There has been an increase in global travel which means that there is an increase in bugs spreading around,” he added. “But also because of climate change we have warmer weather. If it is hotter, insects tend to breed quicker and survive being transported.” Companies like Arctech are looking to new technologies to find ways to tackle the rising number of infestations. Professor Logan said: “Over 20 years of research at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, we have identified that bedbugs produce a pheromone which attracts each other. “We have formulated that new technology into a new BugScents lure which can be put into traps.” Recent data from a Freedom of Information request from Direct Line Insurance shows that in 2023, callouts to councils about bedbugs increased by 23 per cent. well over half of the 14,587 callouts – 8,864 – were to homes in London. Research from Spotta suggests that infestations in hotels were up by 278 per cent since 2021. Professor Logan said London offers ideal conditions for the insects to thrive in. “If you have a city with lots of tourists that are staying in hotels and a high number of hotels, there is going to be more risk of bedbugs there,” he told i . Callout data also revealed that only 8 per cent of the 397 UK councils that Direct Line contacted offered free pest removal services – most offered them for a fee, while 26 per cent do not offer any pest control services at all . “If someone is living on the breadline, and you are looking at say £200 to £300 to deal with it, this is definitely a barrier,” said Natalie Bungay, technical manager at the
British Pest Control Association. Worries about the cost of treatment can cause victims to delay seeking help, which only means the problem gets worse. “If an infestation is left untreated then it spreads very quickly,” said Professor Logan. “You can go from having one pregnant female bug in your home to having tens of thousands of bugs within a matter of weeks.” Read Next Rise in false bedbug reports in UK as panic leads to scams in
France Bedbugs are also becoming more resistant to many of the most commonly used insecticides. “There is definitely concern from the industry about this,” Ms Bungay added. “Bedbugs are becoming more difficult to deal with.” Experts would also caution Britons against panicking about bedbugs, or believing common misconceptions about the insects. “People sometimes think that people who have bedbugs in their homes are dirty,” Ms Bungay said. “This is absolutely not the case — bedbugs are not more or less attracted to unclean spaces, and this attitude can lead to us passing blame onto the victim.”