The rumor of the presence of Bedbugs in different campuses of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)between faculties and offices, cost the highest educational institution almost two million pesos, even though the only evidence of this problem was an alleged insect.
According to information provided by the university, the contracting of fumigation services cost one million 962 thousand 497.57 pesos, as recorded in the receipts to contract the service obtained via transparency by The Sun of Mexico. Each area of the UNAM contract preventive fumigationsmost of them for Direct award.
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In the last statement released by the UNAM about what happened on October 6, he noted that During the review processes they found an insect classified as Cimex lectularius, known as a bed bug. “We reiterate that there is no plague or infestation of bedbugs and that the community is not at health risk,” the university indicated at the time.
In a transparency request with file number F330031923002417 dated November 16, 2023, the Secretariat of Prevention, Attention and University Security of the UNAM assured that, as a result of the reviews carried out in accordance with the indications of the University Research Program on Epidemiological and Emerging Risks “no presence of bed bugs detected or other harmful organism, which is why the daily cleaning program is maintained in all facilities, scheduled for the end of the second half of this year.”
At the beginning of September of this year, students from the Faculty of Chemistry alerted about the alleged presence of Bedbugsnews that went viral on social networks, where they even published photographs with the image of students affected by bites
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On the 28th of the same month, the UNAM announced the temporary closure of the faculty, so that the General Directorate of Health Care prepare a technical opinion on the existence of the insects.
The next day, after student protests, university authorities announced a plan to fumigation to prevent possible spread of insectsfor which classes were suspended on October 2.
The measure of suspension of classes also affected the Faculty of Veterinary and Zootechnics of the UNAM. Little by little, students from other schools pressured for the fumigations occurred in the other schools, where they also reported findings of Bedbugs. From that moment on, the university in its different departments hired fumigation services and, therefore, classes were suspended.
According to receipts provided by the UNAM to this diary, the schools that requested fumigations in Ciudad Universitaria are the powers of Architecture, Medicine Vet, odontology, Psychology, ChemistrySciences, Political and Social Sciences, Accounting, Law, Economics, Philosophy and Letters, Engineering and Medicine.
They also did it in the Faculties of Higher Studies (FES) Iztacala, Cuautitlán, Zaragoza, Acatlán and Aragón; The same thing happened with all the high schools and the Colleges of Sciences and Humanities. The reviews extended to offices, addresses and even the Pumabús.
According to the invoices for the services requested by each educational unit, the School of Medicine was the one that invested the most in fumigations, with 449 thousand 500 pesos. You follow Chemistrywhere the rumor of the Bedbugs, with 165 thousand 474 pesos; and the Faculty of Dentistrywho spent 141 thousand 716.20 pesos.
Although on social networks the FES Aragón announced the suspension of classes due to the review of the campus, did not hire any service. And the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was the only one that did not report whether it contracted the service and its cost.
The contracts deal with pest control services, fumigations, inspectionspurchasing agents chemicals and insecticidesamong others.
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Consulted by this newspaper in October, epidemiologist Alejandro Macías attributed the alleged plague of bed bugs in the city to a collective psychosis. UNAM, since it was unlikely that if there was an epidemic there, Mexico City would not suffer from it. According to the scientist, educational spaces are not preferred by bed bugs, which, according to the Institute of Ecology of the UNAMThey are nocturnal and during the day they prefer to take refuge in furniture, mattresses or cracks.