a sniffer dog present at the airport to track down bedbugs in the belongings of travelers returning from Paris

South Korea is wary of French bedbugs. Athletes returning to Seoul after the Olympics are getting special treatment at the airport: a sniffer dog checks that they are not bringing back any unwanted insects in their luggage.

Ceco, a two-year-old Beagle with a white and caramel coat, is practicing his skills at Incheon Airport in Seoul. He is the first – and so far only – South Korean bedbug-sniffing dog. To earn his title, he underwent special training. Now he knows how to sniff out the nasty pests.with a reliability of more than 95%”, according to Cesco, the pest control company that employs him, just by walking his nose over clothes or luggage. Even if the bedbugs are still only larvae, thanks to the very specific smell of their pheromones. Since Friday, August 9, the 144 South Korean athletes, officials, supporters, everyone who comes from Paris are entitled to a little inspection.

Health authorities are so afraid that Parisian visitors will bring back such souvenirs that Ceco and his truffle are only a small part of the system. Direct flights from Paris are completely disinfected once a week, compared to once a month in normal times. The airport quarantine service is on standby in case an outbreak is detected. And the government has launched a major prevention campaign.

This is, among other things, because of the psychosis surrounding bedbugs in France last fall. Even though it has been established that the phenomenon had been amplified on social networks by pro-Russian accounts, the episode left its mark.

South Korea, too, experienced its big itch in the winter of 2023-2024, as travel resumed post-Covid-19. A proliferation of bedbugs has been reported in gosiwon, micro-housing, which are typically less than five square meters, student dormitories and public baths. More than 950 cases were reported between November and February, according to official statistics.

In the face of national hysteria, Seoul has launched large-scale disinfection. For example, very high-temperature steam heaters have been installed in the airport to kill bedbugs that might have tried to stowaway. The authorities have even authorized the domestic use of neonicotinoids, very powerful insecticides normally used in agriculture.

It is easier to understand why they are being very cautious today. The hygiene of sports facilities or public transport in Paris is not particularly called into question. It is mainly because anxiety has not subsided and South Korea has no desire to embark on a new hunt for blood-sucking pests. Beagle Ceco is under contract until September 8, the end of the Paralympic Games. For the moment, there is not a single bedbug on his list of conquests.