The news becomes all the more astonishing when we learn that the bed bugs present in the space station would have a 79% chance of causing serious health problems, even diseases.
Toilets infested with bed bugs.
The presence of the “mutant” bed bugs becomes even more terrifying when we learn that these insects, which multiply, have literally infested the toilets of the International Space Station. How will the American, Russian, Canadian, or Japanese crew be able to go to the bathroom in space without getting bitten? How is it that NASA is unable to eliminate these insects that are present in the toilets? Is the International Space Station compromised? Could these bed bugs capable of transmitting diseases be a threat to the earth? Is there really panic up there? Will NASA’s anti-insect squad be able to stem the problem?
A few quotes in the media:
November 26, 2018 – Stowaway insects of the ISS – Ouest-France
“Stowaway insects of the ISS” (source)
November 26, 2018 – Bed bugs get stuck on board the International Space Station
“It is based on a NASA study which reveals that bed bugs, like those that plague the lives of patients in certain French hospitals, were discovered on board the International Space Station.”
“… their presence, in the toilets of the ISS, worries scientists. Because these bed bugs are carriers of the Enterobacter bacterium.” (source)
November 27, 2018 – Bed bugs on board the ISS – The Weather Channel – (source)
November 27, 2018 – Bed bugs in the International Space Station – L’Express (France) via MSN
“In a new study from NASA, relayed in France by Ouest-France, we learn that bed bugs have indeed contaminated the space station, particularly the toilets. […] Similar to the bed bugs found in the beds of certain hospitals, they measure just 5 to 7 mm. Brownish in colour, they live far from the light and have an impressive fertility: between 200 and 500 eggs per female.”
“Dr. Nitin K. Singh, one of the researchers who has worked on the subject, estimates that ‘these species could potentially pose a major health problem for future missions.’ According to their calculations, there is a 79% chance that they cause diseases.” (source)
November 29 – Aix: these beasts that plague the daily lives of the inhabitants – La Provence
“…bed bugs that still wreak havoc across France and the world and multiply at a blistering speed. They can be found everywhere …even on the International Space Station, as we learned this week after a new study from NASA was…” (source)
Canada interested by the case of the bed bugs on the International Space Station
Contacted by a third party, a Quebec company specializing in the eradication of bed bugs was made aware of the news. The company offers a complete range of bed bug eradication solutions, whether it’s through the treatment using products, thermal treatments, freezing treatments, or other specific protocols. The company also has a bed bug decontamination centre. Research and development are at the heart of its priorities. No situation is too big for the company, which treats everything from the smallest objects to the largest buildings: objects, books, luggage, cars, apartments, houses, apartment buildings, hotels, motels, public accommodation and healthcare buildings…
Why not examine the situation on the space station a little closer? As always, the company has sought to learn the source of the problem. The answer could well come from France…
The origin of the bed bugs on the International Space Station
By reading different articles chronicling the bed bug infestation on the International Space Station, we quickly see that only the French media are advancing the idea of a bed bug infestation up there. No English source, not even the studies and reports cited in the French articles, talks about any bed bugs whatsoever. There is every reason to believe that a French journalist inadvertently mistranslated the word “bugs” as “punaises de lit” (bed bugs), while it was instead referring to bacteria. Obviously, bed bugs can’t transmit diseases, no more up there than down here.