South Korean authorities have deployed a bedbug sniffer dog at its main international airport, in an exercise aimed at preventing the parasitic insects from entering the country when athletes, officials and fans return from the Paris Olympics.
A beagle named Ceco has been deployed at the Incheon International Airport, screening on every arrival from Paris, France.
Pest control company Cesco says the two-year-old canine is the only one in the country that has been trained to detected the odour of pheromones, the chemicals released by bedbugs.
The sniffer dog, the company says, has a great ability to sweep a standard hotel room within two minutes. The exercise has seen a collaboration between Cesco, South Korean ministries of transport and security, and the disease control and prevention agency.
Late last year, reports emerged that the French capital was battling “an invasion of bedbugs”.
The tiny pests were reported in hotels and vacation apartments across the city, movie theatres and on seats in both national high-speed and the Paris Metro system.
“Bedbugs are a public health issue and should be declared as such,” Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire wrote to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, calling on the government to come up with an action plan to address the problem at a national level.
The South Korean government press release had indicated that “…we are taking a preemptive response to intercept the entry [of bedbugs] through the Incheon international airport, which is the main gateway to the country.”
Additionally, flights arriving directly from Paris are being disinfected once a week compared with the normal once a month rate. The airport quarantine services have also being activated in case they are needed.
South Korea sent 144 athletes to the Olympics in Paris, games that came to an end on Sunday, August 11.
