South Korea fights off unprecedented bedbug infestation

Salamendacious@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 154 points – South Korea fights off unprecedented bedbug infestation
abcnews.go.com

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean authorities have been desperately detecting and exterminating bedbugs for the last two weeks, as a major disinfection of transportation and public facilities is on the way.

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Isn't this same thing going on in Paris?

Nope. That was actually just a false propaganda campaign.

There was no sudden infestation, people were just primed to look for them because of the fake news campaign and so found them, took pictures of them, and spread the fake panic even further.

Nicolas Roux de Bézieux, co-founder of the Badbugs site, which connects individuals with pest control professionals, added: “The mistake [is] to believe that the increase in bedbugs is strong and sudden. In reality, it has been constant and gradual for years.”

Like usual, the lies made it around the world twice before the truth got its shoes on.

I mean, if people were primed to look for them, and then found them, is that really propaganda? Sounds like they have a bed bug problem that was being ignored until recently. If all the findings are true that is.

bogus articles were shared across social media, alleging that essential Russian chemicals were needed to create insecticides but with imports banned due to sanctions, France was left helpless against the insect invasion.

Other posts highlighted to French TV station RNC by military sources, said that “the anti-bedbug agent used in furniture and most wood materials is made in Russia “and that due to sanctions imposed on this substance”, spraying had stopped.

The fake reports repeatedly cite La Montagne as the source of this assertion, often by sharing a screenshot of an article allegedly published by the media outlet, which dates from October 4, and is titled “Sanctions against Russia have led to an epidemic of bedbugs in Paris”.

La Montagne told AFP Factuel they had never published such an article, and denounced the fake articles on social media as “forgery”.

Yes. That's really propaganda.

Wow! That story blew up so fast I kinda wondered if it was propaganda, but I couldn't figure out who would benefit so I shrugged my shoulders.

I think London just had or is having bed bug troubles too but I didn't hear anything about Paris.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/29/bedbug-crisis-political-row-paris-insect-scourge-continues

As far as I'm aware, there was speculation it was going to spread to London from Paris via the Eurostar, but I don't think I saw any confirmed reports of the problem actually reaching there.

Weird I wasn't aware of that. I'm so glad I've never had to deal with bed bugs. I've heard they are a serious scourge.

Bed bugs are a horrible menace. My husband had to deal with them in the 90s, and it took removing himself, the cats, and then bug bombing the house several times with a professional to remove them. He's still anxious about the thought of them coming back, and it's been...since the 90s.

PT-BB-D

You joke, but bed bugs will break a man. I will happily set fire to my belongings before risking an infestation.

No I meant that only half joking. I know it's horrible. Am old friend got them because her apartment building got completely infested. She told me she threw out all her furniture and washed all her clothes and linens with some special soap. The look on her face told me it was a nasty experience.

I'm just sitting here waiting for this awful shit to make it here to Amsterdam via the Thalys. We'd be so fucked.

30 confirmed reports across the country? Jeez that's pretty low for "unprecedented". I can probably find that many in my small town.

Yes, but in context:

South Korea has essentially been free of bedbug issues since the 1970s when the government implemented insecticides all across the country resulting in just nine bedbug cases reported in the last decade, according to the Ministry of Disease Control and Prevention Agency

9 in 10 years to 30 is an astronomical jump.

Reads title.

Reads article.

Rookie numbers right there.

-USA

For real, the shit is getting bad. All the bed bugs left are crazy resistant to most things you can legally/safely use except directly heating them to death. They've become a huge PITA.