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Video length: 3 min
United States: New York’s fierce fight against bedbugs
United States: New York’s fierce fight against bedbugs
(France 2)
Infested by my bedbugs, the city of New York, in the United States, is pursuing a drastic policy to combat these insects.
In the United States, New York is the city most affected by bedbugs after Chicago. Kisha Peart’s apartment was infested three times. “It took us no less than eight months to get rid of it.”, she assures. In recent months, the city has closely observed the situation in France, widely reported by the American media. Here, Parisian psychosis brings back bad memories. In the 2010s, residents were flocked to the subway, to the cinema and to the UN headquarters.
A clear reduction thanks to drastic measures
The town hall then reacted: obligation to report bedbugs before a sale or rental, throwing away used mattresses in plastic, and drastic checks in hotels. “For hotels, it has become vital. It’s a question of reputation”assures Scott Palatnik, a bedbug exterminator.
On the front lines of the fierce fight, Linda Rosenthal, elected to the New York State Assembly, wants to go further and that transport users can “report the presence of bedbugs in real time”. Although the strategy has enabled a clear decline in recent years, the city is once again largely affected.
