Is Hong Kong on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic? We talk to the experts and get some tips

Waking up several times during the night with itchy skin, Mr and Mrs E (whose names have been withheld) have not had a good night’s sleep in almost a year. They have tried everything from tossing out their belongings – including bedding – replacing the wooden bed with a metal-framed one, and flea bombing their subdivided apartment numerous times. But they still can’t get rid of their unwanted intruders, bed bugs.

They’re getting desperate, because Mrs E is pregnant and due to give birth any day. On a visit to their cramped apartment in Cheung Sha Wan with Francisco Pazos, head technician of pest control company nobedbugs-hk.com, Pazos lifts the blanket and immediately sees the small dark insects crawling on the bed. Many more appear as he moves the mattress.

Judging by the amount of droppings, Pazos estimates there are more than a million bed bugs in the apartment, and classifies the case as an “extreme” infestation. The neighbouring apartments are likely to be crawling in them, he says.

Bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus) feed on blood, are arguably the most irritating household pests, and are indiscriminate lodgers. They can be found in all types of homes, clean or dirty, big or small.

Pazos next takes us to a luxurious, 3,700 sq ft Mid-Levels flat. One of two domestic helpers suspects the critters hitchhiked to Hong Kong with her employer when he returned from a trip to the mainland. The parasites have since spread to all of the bedrooms.

Hong Kong is on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic, Pazos warns. “There are only two types of households in Hong Kong: those who have bed bugs and those who will have bed bugs.”