Almost two years ago, Hong Kong went through a bed bug panic. It started with a photo that went viral on social media and ended with panic buying of insecticides across the city and pest control companies overwhelmed with bookings. Here is a timeline of what happened, reconstructed entirely from real news reports published at the time.
Early November 2023: The global bed bug wave arrives
Before Hong Kong, large-scale bed bug outbreaks had already been reported in South Korea, Paris, and London. Heavy media coverage got many Hongkongers wondering: would Hong Kong be next?
Mid-November 2023: One Airport Express photo ignites the city
The turning point was a photo circulating on social media: a small brown oval insect on the back of an Airport Express train seat. A pest control expert who saw the photo identified it as a bed bug (Cimex lectularius). The MTR Corporation immediately took the train back to the depot for thorough inspection and deep cleaning, and later said no such insect was found. Some lawmakers called on the authorities to step up preventive measures against bed bugs spreading on public transport. Although it was never confirmed, that single photo was enough to put the whole city on alert.
Mid-to-late November 2023: Panic buying
Panic quickly turned into consumer behavior: e-commerce platform Shopline reported a 172-fold surge in sales of pest control and bed bug products over the Singles’ Day shopping weekend, with anti-bed bug travel kits the top seller; a pest control company owner said his firm had “done a month’s work in the last three days” as inquiries exploded; the Airport Authority began distributing bed bug warning leaflets to arriving passengers. A former head of the government’s pest control advisory section reminded the public that bed bugs had always been common in Hong Kong, and that good hygiene and simple precautions were enough — no need for excessive panic.
12 December 2023: Bed bugs found on the Hong Kong–Macau cross-border bus
This one was a confirmed case. A passenger on the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge shuttle bus (Golden Bus) traveling from Hong Kong to Macau discovered bed bugs on his seat. He and his wife were bitten, and later found more than a dozen bugs in their windbreaker and shoes. The bus company immediately disinfected its entire fleet and said it would increase the frequency of in-vehicle hygiene inspections. The previous month had also seen reported sightings on an Airport Express seat and on a bus parked at the Lai Chi Kok depot.
December 2023: The suffering of low-income households comes to light
Amid the panic, the media reported in depth on the long-standing plight of grassroots bed bug victims: residents of cage homes and subdivided flats had lived with infestations for years, with one elderly man sleeping on a steel bench downstairs to escape the bites. A volunteer team had spent years providing free bed bug treatment to low-income families, noting that the more crowded and dilapidated the housing, the higher the infestation risk.
September 2024: Bed bugs found at Kwai Chung Hospital
About a year after the panic, Kwai Chung Hospital investigated a bed bug infestation after patients suffered suspected bites. The Hospital Authority said it had an established pest control protocol and had sought advice from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. A pest control expert noted that crowded public venues — hospitals, cinemas, restaurants — are inherently high-risk locations for bed bug transmission.
Two years on: Bed bugs were always here
Professor Chiu Siu-wai of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Life Sciences conducted a survey in 2021 and found that one in six respondents had found bed bugs at home — in other words, bed bugs were never new to Hong Kong; the 2023 wave of international news simply made everyone pay attention. In July 2026, a local pest control company issued a press release claiming it had completed more than 10,000 bed bug jobs in Hong Kong (company press release content, for reference only).
Lessons learned: Panic doesn’t help, prevention does
Looking back, the most valuable takeaways aren’t about the panic itself: (1) Bed bugs won’t disappear because of panic, but daily habits help: inspect your luggage after trips, check mattress seams regularly. (2) Don’t spray insecticide blindly when you spot a suspicious insect — scattering them makes things worse; identify the pest first. (3) Grassroots infestations are a chronic problem, not a one-time panic — they need sustained community support. For detailed prevention and treatment steps, see our guides below.
References
SCMP: MTR deep cleans Airport Express train after viral photo (Nov 2023)
SCMP: Bed bug fears spark panic buying of insecticides (Nov 2023)
The Straits Times: Hongkongers rush to buy bed bug products, CUHK professor interview (Nov 2023)
The Straits Times: Bed bugs found on HK–Macau shuttle bus (Dec 2023)
HKFP: The plight of grassroots bed bug victims (Dec 2023)
SCMP: Kwai Chung Hospital bed bug case (Sep 2024)