Les mauvaises nouvelles (de Paris) voyagent vite. Les punaises de lit voyagent plus vite. Or Bad News (From Paris) Travels Fast. Bed Bugs Travel Faster.  – and if the translation is wrong, blame Google.

The phrase “bad news travel fast” has been with us since 1582. The oldest treatise on Bed Bugs we found with the fantastic title “Those Disturbers of my Rest” is from 1730.

Written by John Southall — the godfather of exterminators, known in his day as a “bug destroyer” — A Treatise of Buggs (1730) is the first scientific study of bedbugs. According to its author, this lousy presence was still novel in London, only “known to be in England above sixty years”. Its supposed source? The importation of foreign lumber (namely “Firr-Timber”) in the wake of the city’s Great Fire, which raged in 1666. Across this book, bug bites serve as proto–heat maps, pocking the skin of victims in proximity to imperial supply chains. “Not one Sea-Port in England is free; whereas in Inland-Towns, Buggs are hardly known.”

Maybe it’s because of Bed Bugs’ 6 legs and ability to hide that they are able to get around so quickly.

The Modern Day and fearful question that many Brits are asking is “Will bed bugs travel from Paris to the UK?” They’re already here, expert says – Sky News

Scrambling the old Paul Revere cry- it’s not the British who are coming. In 2023, it’s the British warning that this long time insidious foe is already in our homes. The English should recognize that the Bed Bugs are already there.

It’s not just Paris and London who have outbreaks of these little vampire bugs in 2023. The UK’s Sun newspaper carried a headline of “BED SPREAD Bed bugs spotted in ANOTHER major UK city as pests are seen crawling on bus windows – amid fears of invasion.” The news article starts: “A small insect was seen crawling on a bus window in Manchester this week, just days after a London Underground passenger spotted one on her leg.”

We should also be wary in the US. While the news has focused on many other health concerns since the reemergence of bed bugs in the US 30 years ago, our country and especially NYC still have big problems with bed bugs and these pests can and do emerge in public places. NYC Subway riders and the rest of us are all potential victims.

What should you do? If you’re concerned and have gotten back from a trip – even just from the movies, a doctor’s office, or the theater – and want to know whether you have itchy problem, call for a bed bug inspection today. A trained canine detective is the best way to find out if and to what extent these insects are in your home of office.  Roscoe the Bed Bug Dog is workin’ and ready to help!

(And if you are just back from Paris, France – we would understand if you said, “Où est Roscoe?”  Our response, “Il travaille!”