Morocco: Tangier port under health alert over France's bed bugs

Morocco's Tangier port is under a health emergency after discovering a bed bug infestation in a passenger boat coming from France, reported local media.

The management of Tangier Mediterranean Port reportedly implemented Monday, 2 October, a health and environmental vigilance system following suspicions of bed bug infestation on a shig from the French port of Marseille. The pre-emptive health system proved an infestation.

On Tuesday, a source from Tangier Med port confirmed the news to The New Arab, but no spokesperson was available to give more details about the situation.

Local news website 24h said passengers had to wait while the ship and its cargo were scrubbed and disinfected before they were permitted to disembark.

The news horrified many Moroccans who fear a similar outbreak of the blood-sucking insect as the one currently in France. 

"Since reading the news, I feel my skin crawling. Hopefully, transports will not be infected," said Hasna, a 48-year-old employee, laughing off her panic. 

The Moroccan Health Ministry has yet to comment on the news.

Bed bugs seen crawling over seats on Paris trains and buses as France battles a bed bug invasion. pic.twitter.com/XnwcrQgVax

— Project TABS (@ProjectTabs) October 2, 2023

Paris' bed bugs outbreak

Amid Paris Fashion Week, these tiny pests invaded the French capital, horrifying locals, tourists and those planning to attend the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

Bed bugs were first reported in hotels and vacation rental apartments across the French capital during the summer. 

Then there were sightings in movie theatres and crawling around on seats in national high-speed trains and the Paris Metro system - and now they even jumped to boats leaving France.

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune has said he would convene a meeting this week to "undertake further action" to "reassure and protect" the public from the reported surge in the numbers of the blood-sucking insect.

In separate statements, French transport operators said they remain "vigilant" about bedbugs following reports of what were said to be sightings in public transport.

Paris' companies specialising in treating insect infestations reported an overwhelming rate of cleaning demands, which cost an average of US$500.

Far-right xenophobes blame migrants for bed bugs

The insect outbreak in France has, expectedly, taken a racist turn with far-right figures attempting to link it to "migrants' lack of hygiene."

Last week, Pascal Praud, a Far-Right figure and CNews host asked his guest about the link between the outbreak and immigration.

"Do we know why there are more bedbugs today? Is it related to hygiene? I'm going to ask all the questions: there is a lot of immigration at the moment. Are these people who do not have the same hygienic conditions as those who are on French soil (...)? Is this related to this?" CNews host Pascal Praud asked his guest on Friday, 29 September.

Several French politicians deemed Praud's statements "uninhibited" and "vile," saying they would seize the media regulator, Arcom, to stop his program.

Experts stress that hygiene has nothing to do with the spread of bedbugs — instead, their strength is their high fertility rate: once they find somewhere to eat and reproduce, they spread rapidly.

Anses, France's national food, environment and work hygiene organisation, noted two main culprits behind the recent proliferation of bedbugs in France - an increase in tourism and greater resistance to insecticides.