Bedbug alert in Britain: sniffer dogs must now track down the leeches

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Bed bugs are no longer just making things difficult for the French: sightings of the little bloodsuckers are on the rise in Britain. The British ‘Mirror’ claims to have identified Swindon in the west of England as the first bedbug hotspot. And the pests are apparently already causing mischief in London too.

Sniffer dogs should help

The little bloodsuckers are said to have hidden in dozens of apartments in Swindon. Families throw away mattresses and sofas to get rid of the small pests. Antonia Selby (28), who lives in Swindon with her partner and three children, talks about her experiences with the parasites.

She was shocked to discover a plague after turning over the couch. She initially thought the red spots on her eldest son Odin’s body were an allergy, until they turned out to be bedbug bites. “The council sent a pest control company to spray the room and we had to stay outside for five hours. They have done that twice now, but they will come back in a few days,” says the young mother.

From France to Great Britain

According to the Guardian, British hotels and homeowners are now relying on specially trained dogs to detect bed bugs. Gary Jakeman, who offers related services with his Springer Spaniels, says: “We’re getting more and more inquiries. The number of calls has increased by 25 percent since June.”

Videos of the crawling creatures in the subways of major cities are increasingly appearing on social media. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, 53, said the possible appearance of bedbugs on public transport in the British capital was “a real cause for concern”. The insects probably spread from major French cities, where there are plagues in schools, hospitals and cinemas.

Everything clear for Switzerland

And what is it like in Switzerland? Pest expert Werner Tischhauser (49) looks at the situation calmly and makes everything clear. “That is certainly not the case with us. In the city of Zurich, for example, we have not noticed a decrease in bedbugs at all,” he tells Blick.

On the other hand, there is always the risk of introducing bed bugs from one country to another. “We continue to receive relevant reports.” One of the causes of these annoying bloodsuckers is undoubtedly the increased global mobility after the pandemic.

Bed bugs largely disappeared from everyday life in the middle of the last century, but have been on the rise again for several years now. Travel, the purchase of second-hand clothing, the increasing resistance of animals to insecticides and probably also climate change promote its spread.

Source: Blick