The Swiss army is working hard to fend off its latest foe: bedbugs.

The defence department said a planned parents' day event is being cancelled because bedbugs have appeared in dormitories and fabrics used by three companies at an infantry training school in several parts of French-speaking Switzerland.

It said no-one's health was in danger but "several recruits had bites typical of bedbugs".

Disinfection measures have been taken and specialists have been called in to clean up the sites.

The three companies will not travel to Bure, along the French border near northern Basel, for the Parents' Day celebration on July 16 which has been cancelled to prevent wider contamination.

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