Mbare Bed Bug Infestation Spreads Across Harare
A bed bug (tsikidzi) outbreak that started in the Mbare flats has now spread to other parts of Harare, leaving many residents uncomfortable and concerned about their health.
Although the City of Harare has fumigated the flats to stop the infestation, the bugs have already made their way to suburbs like Mabvuku, Kuwadzana, Budiriro, and others.
The spread is being linked to people moving between Mbare and other areas, as residents from the flats regularly interact with friends and family across the city.
A resident from one of the affected suburbs told NewsDay they believe the bed bugs were brought in by visitors from Mbare. Said the resident:
I am convinced that the bugs came from my cousins who visited us from Mbare flats. They slept over at our place and soon after, we started noticing the bugs in our home.
It has been a nightmare ever since. My children are scratching themselves all night and I am at a loss as to what to do.
We have tried everything from washing our bedding to using insecticides, but nothing seems to work. It’s like these bugs are everywhere.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume told NewsDay in an interview that the city council has not yet received any official reports from the affected areas. Said Mafume:
In suburbs with detached houses, the tsikidzi do not spread. They will just affect that single house.
But for suburbs like Mbare, where there are flats, they spread faster. If people iron their clothes, they will be okay.
We have not yet received any official report. It is just that we are fumigating. We will continue to make sure that we minimise the spread.
I know we will win the war because we have fumigated once. The problem is that there were some households that were not fumigated because people were not there. We are doing the first round of fumigation.
Once we finish it, after 10 days, we will do another round to make sure that we continue to minimise the spread.
Then, we will see whether they meet for the third round of fumigation. And then we will schedule regular fumigation.
Mafume said the spread of bed bugs could be linked to the second-hand clothes trade, suggesting the bugs might have come in through clothes that were already infested while being sold at the market.
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