The planet is sweating through the hottest year in history, and scientists say a new “supercontinent” could one day wipe out humans entirely. But what’s got the world really worried this week are mutant French bedbugs. The panic started in Paris with reports of infested trains and cinemas.
But now it has gone planetary, with fashionistas fearful they could have brought the bloodsuckers to the four corners of the Earth in their baggage after returning home from Paris Fashion Week. The hysteria has spread across the Channel to Britain with talk of a bedbug “invasion” coming as interior minister Suella Braverman warned of a “hurricane” of migrants.
With the itch of anxiety even making it to India, President Emmanuel Macron ordered an emergency meeting of ministers with France’s reputation at stake as it prepares to host the Olympics on the back of the Rugby World Club.
But despite the fevered talk of skin-crawling encounters and viral videos of bites, officials told AFP that checks on French trains and the Paris metro have yet to turn up a single bedbug.