Sleep tight: Don’t let Korea’s pesticide-proof bedbugs bite

Social Affairs

Published: 26 Oct. 2023, 07:00 Updated: 26 Oct. 2023, 20:25

Sleep tight: Don’t let Korea’s pesticide-proof bedbugs bite

Bedbugs found on a mattress cover in a Keimyung University dormitory at Daegu on Oct. 19. [YONHAP]

Bedbugs are back in Korea, planting fear in citizens as the critters are even immune to pesticides.

Most recently, bedbugs were found in Daegu at a Keimyung University dormitory on Oct. 19. The discovery came a few days after they were found at a sauna in Incheon.

The sudden emergence is likely due to bedbugs coming in from the currently widely infested countries in Europe and the United States through international travelers. The recent discovery of bedbugs at Keimyung University was also made in a dormitory used by a student from Britain.

Sightings of bedbugs in Korea were scarce thanks to strict environmental hygiene policies and the usage of the incredibly strong and now-banned DDT pesticide in the 1960s. However, reports of bedbug sightings have been made in Korea since the mid-2000s.

“Bedbugs increased worldwide since the 2000s, and even in Korea, where the population was virtually eradicated, sighting reports have been made since 2006,” said Ahn Neung-ho, a researcher at the National Institute of Biological Resources.

“While it is difficult to determine if they are native as of yet, [the fact is] international travel increased in the 2000s and many appearances came from university dormitories where foreign students resided, so it is more likely that the bedbugs in Korea came from overseas instead of being native species.”

A photo of a bedbug in a train in France reached over 7 million views after being uploaded on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 19. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

British media reported of a “Bedbug epidemic sweeping Britain” in August this year, pointing to the rapid increase in bedbugs, despite bedbugs not being disease carriers.

Rentokil, the largest pest control company in the world, reported that the number of bedbugs in Britain increased by 65 percent this year compared to last year.

The number of bedbugs in France, where the government has launched a concerted effort to fight them, is also estimated to have increased by 65 percent compared to last year.

“A lot of bedbug variations that are immune to pesticides are emerging worldwide," said Lee Seung-hwan, an applied biology professor from Seoul National University. "Even before France, the bedbug density had increased in the United States and Britain leading to attacks on humans."

In the United States, a service that updates on hotels and public facilities where bedbugs have emerged has become popular.

Rentokil cited the rise in international travel and reopening of university dormitories after the end of Covid-19 restrictions as the reasons for the spread of bedbugs in Western countries, including the United States. Another theory is that with households facing economic difficulties, more people have brought secondhand furniture into their houses, leading to an increase in bedbugs in ordinary homes.

Domestic pest control businesses view the emergence of bedbugs in Korea as proportional to the amount of travel activity.

“Requests for bedbug control actually significantly dropped during the period when travel between countries was restricted due to Covid-19,” said Dr. Song Young-hwan from Cesco.

Theories that the explosive increase of bedbugs is related to climate change are also being speculated in some parts of the West.

But professor Lee disagrees, saying that “it seems that rather than climate change, the already existing problem of the [bedbug’s] immunity to pesticide coincided with the increase in international movement.”

“There have even been reports of bedbugs that are immune to the DDT pesticide, which is so toxic that it is now banned. Humans, who created pesticide, are responsible for this result,” he added.

The government does not keep records on bedbug problems that occurred after the 2000s.

“We do not compile statistics [on them] because bedbugs are not disease carriers. We are responding to the problem by providing information for the public, such as displaying information on how to deal with bedbugs on our website,” said a source from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Pest control workers and dormitory staff disinfect the dormitory at Keimyung University to get rid of bedbugs on Oct. 19. [NEWS1]

Bedbugs normally stay hidden during the day in places such as mattresses and sofas, and come out at night to feast on mammals', mainly humans’, blood.

They suck up seven to eight times more blood in a bite than mosquitoes, and leave a bright red rash on human skin, accompanied by an irritating itch. In the worst cases, it can also cause a high fever. They are almost impossible to eradicate with the resources of an ordinary household.

“Bedbugs only feed on animals’ blood, which makes it impossible to catch through feed-based pest traps, they can survive for as long as a year without feeding, and unlike [other] common insects, have a short nymph stage and a long adult life span. They are pests specialized in hiding during the day and coming out at night to suck blood from humans,” said researcher Ahn.

BY JEONG EUN-HYE, KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]