South Korea’s government has declared war on bedbugs, amid reports that an infestation is causing panic in a country that had practically rid itself of the nocturnal bloodsuckers.
Starting next week, authorities will carry out inspections of “vulnerable” locations – including public bathhouses and lodging facilities – and immediately disinfect places where the bugs are found.
The four-week campaign comes as confirmation that the outbreak, thought to have originated in France in September, is taking hold in South Korea.
As of Tuesday, 30 cases had been confirmed nationwide, the Yonhap news agency said, adding that more than half were in the capital, Seoul.
The crisis comes after an outbreak in France while it was hosting the Rugby World Cup and preparing to host the 2024 Olympics in the capital. Travellers posted photos and videos purportedly showing the insects on the Paris Métro and high-speed trains, and at Charles de Gaulle airport.
The infestation sparked concern that the outbreak would quickly spread to the UK, but some experts said the bugs were already present on London’s public transport network and in cinemas, hospitals and other public spaces. The pest control company Rentokil said it had seen a 65% spike in cases of bedbugs in Britain in the second quarter of this year, compared with a year earlier.
South Korea almost eradicated bedbugs during a nationwide disinfection campaign in the 1960s, and had recorded just nine cases in the decade before the recent invasion.
The government has set aside 500m won [£310,000] and launched a special response team to address the infestation, and will meet weekly to review the campaign’s progress.
Officials warned that the number of cases was expected to rise and urged the public not to be embarrassed about reporting sightings.
“There is a perception that bedbug appearances are down to individuals, so some people refrain from filing a report, fearing it could be seen as a sign of poor hygiene,” Yonhap quoted an official as saying.
Authorities have attributed the outbreak to the lifting of travel restrictions after the Covid-19 pandemic. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has been offering guidance to people arriving from countries where outbreaks have occurred, including France and Britain, according to the Korea Herald.
While the bugs can’t transmit disease, they cause intense itching that can lead to secondary skin infections.
The first case was reported at a university dormitory in the south-west city of Daegu in September, with more cases later traced to tourist hotels and a public sauna in Incheon near Seoul.
The Seoul metropolitan government has begun inspections of more than 3,000 public baths, saunas and hotels as part of its “zero-bedbug city” initiative, the Korea Herald said.
“We will enhance pre-emptive measures as bedbugs cause serious economic and psychological damage,” Park Yoo-mi, an official in charge of citizens’ health at the city government, told the newspaper.
Many people have changed their daily habits in the hope of staying clear of the bugs, according to South Korean media. Some avoid sitting down on public transport or eating out, while public health centres have reported a surge of visitors seeking advice on insect bites.
Lim Myung-woo, 37, who runs a private English and maths school with his wife, said the couple had decided not to make their regular visits to the cinema for the time being.
“We used to watch movies at reduced admission fees in the morning … but we decided to stop going for a while as we are worried about bedbug bites or carrying them to our workplace or home,” Lim told the Korea Times.
• This article was amended on 10 November 2023. Due to a conversion error, a previous version incorrectly said the sum of 500m won was equivalent to £312m, rather than £310,000.
