大象传媒

Paris is under attack from bedbugs. A wave of panic and disgust has spread across the country as travellers have posted photos and videos purportedly showing the insects on the Paris metro, high-speed trains, cinemas and other public places.

The bedbug crisis has sparked a political row, as it's not a good look for France with less than a year to go before the Olympic Games. Journalist Sarah Erden in Paris told Newsday that ''things are very bad... with a reported surge in numbers'' and it's ''leading to panic... causing distress, anxiety and depression... it's not only a public health issue but also a mental health issue''.

Some of the causes of the upsurge could include insecticides that have been banned, and according to the French national health agency, there's been a change in lifestyle, high population density, more mass transit with a growth in travel.

Sarah Erden says the deputy mayor of Paris is calling for ''urgent action... and a task force to fight the plague''. She says the transport minister has ''warned against hysteria... he will summon public transport operations this week to inform them about new measures and further actions that are being taken to reassure and protect the public.''

(Picture: Common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) obtaining its blood meal on the human skin, 1976. Image courtesy Centers for Disease Control (CDC) / Donated by the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Credit Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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