Staying in a French AirBnB? More than one in ten homes in the country are infected with bed bugs, with rental properties being blamed for increasing the spread.

French Airbnbs have been blamed for an alarming rise in bed bugs with one in ten homes in the country infected.

A survey found that 11 percent of French households have had trouble dealing with blood-sucking insect outbreaks between 2017 and 2022.

The investigation, carried out by the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health (ANSES), suggested that the tourism industry is largely to blame for the increase in infestations.

“It’s a phenomenon totally independent of the social environment,” said Karine Fiore, deputy director of social, economic and societal sciences at ANSES.

Bed bugs are small brown insects that hide in soft furnishings like mattresses.

“While all homes can be affected by bed bugs, we have been able to identify some factors that favor infestations: traveling or living in shared accommodation, for example,” he said according to The Telegraph.

Bed bugs are small brown insects that hide in soft furnishings like mattresses. They come out at night and bite humans to feed on their blood.

Beds used by a frequent turnover of visitors in places like hotels are prone to infestations.

In France, the increase is also due to an increase in international travel and insect resistance to insecticides, the report states.

Getting bed bugs is almost entirely due to luck because “it has nothing to do with hygiene,” according to Scott Hyslop, director of UK PESTS.

The pest expert said: ‘As a prevention, the main thing we suggest is that when people get home they wash their clothes.’

Another common way bed bugs find their way into homes is through secondhand furniture.

The bugs are not only a nuisance, but can also cost an average of €866 per household to remove, according to the report.