Moment bed bug bites scientist live on air and blows up 'round as a sausage'
This is the horrifying moment a bed bug sunk its teeth into a scientist live on air, as he warned that the pests could be "anywhere".
The pests are on the rise in the UK, with data released by Rentokil last month finding there had been a 65% increase in infestations from 2022 to 2023. They are rumoured to have spread from Paris, which has seen plagues of bed bugs being reported in schools, hospitals and cinemas.
And Brits are now on the lookout for the bugs following outbreaks. Professor James Logan, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, revealed he was bitten by one of the insects on a flight to the US.
As part of a new Channel 5 documentary, The Big Bed Bug Invasion, he allowed one to sink its teeth into his arm. Grisly footage shows the bug latching itself onto his skin, then turning dark red in colour and blowing up "round as a sausage".
Professor James Logan, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, allowed one of the insects to bite his arm (Channel 5)Professor James told The Sun: "I do sit down on the Tube because it's very unlikely you're gonna get bitten on public transport - although I was bitten on an aeroplane and I caught the culprit. But aircraft can be infested, along with trains, buses, cinemas. Bed bugs can be anywhere but that doesn't mean they ARE everywhere.
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"It just means as long as it's warm and there are people who are in one position for long enough, bed bugs can come out, feed and go back to hiding." As part of their defence system, the insects inject an anesthetic before biting, so that people won't feel it. They also release an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing smoothly.
This combination of chemicals mean that people often do not notice when they've been bitten. Professor James attributed the gradual rise in bed bugs to their ability to evolve, warning that they are becoming an increasing problem due to their resistance to insecticides.
Grisly footage shows the bug turning dark red in colour and blowing up "round as a sausage" (Plank PR)David Cain, founder of London-based pest controllers BedBugs Limited, says the problem is out of control and "worthy of being called an epidemic". The bug expert said he is called out to around 15 to 20 cases a week compared to four a week in 2007, adding “The problem is worse now than it’s been since probably the 1930s and 1940s."
After a skin-crawling video of a suspected bed bug crawling up the trouser leg of somebody sitting on the London Underground has been viewed almost two million times on Tik Tok, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan vowed to tackle the problem and said TFL disinfected seats every day.
He said: “We are speaking to our friends in Paris to see if there are any lessons to be learned but for a variety of reasons we don’t think those issues will arise in London; but there is no complacency from TfL." Bedbugs are small, brown insects that are close in size to apple seeds.
They hide in mattresses, emerging at night to bite and feed on human blood, and can be spread unwittingly after latching on to clothes and luggage. Usually there is an uptick in the insects in the summer months, as more people are likely to be travelling around. The return of international travel following the coronavirus pandemic is also believed to be a partial factor behind the increase.
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