Overview
- Municipalities in Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg and other states have cordoned off and closed playgrounds, parks and sports areas while teams mark and remove nests to reduce public exposure.
- The caterpillars’ fine hairs contain the protein toxin thaumetopoein and can trigger severe itching, rashes, eye irritation and asthma-like symptoms on contact.
- Authorities advise anyone who may have touched the hairs to rinse and cool affected skin, shower and wash hair, change clothes and launder garments at 60°C to remove remaining hairs.
- Environmental officials say mechanical removal by trained crews is the main response now because biozide spraying is not suitable at the larvae’s advanced stage and full eradication is unlikely.
- The hairs break off easily, can be carried by wind or lodge in soil and old nests, remain hazardous for months, and recent reports show infestations reaching private balconies and urban waste containers.