Source: nford / Radio One
For three consecutive years Baltimore has held the number spot when it comes to having bed bugs. Right now Washington D.C. is in the lead with the #1 spot while Baltimore has fallen to #2.
Orkins Top 50 Bed Bug Cities list hold 5 Ohio cities, and Columbus ranks as #5. Another we aren’t too proud to be apart of. The list comes out from where Orkin preformed the most bed bug treatments. So good word there is TREATMENTS.
- Washington D.C.
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Columbus, OH
- Cincinnati
- Detroit
- New York (-4)
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
- Dallas-Fort Worth (+5)
- Indianapolis
- Philadelphia
- Atlanta (+3)
- Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio (-1)
- Raleigh-Durham, N.C. (-3)
- Richmond-Petersburg, Va. (-5)
- Houston
- Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Va. (+2)
- Charlotte, N.C. (-3)
- Buffalo, N.Y. (-2)
- Knoxville, Tenn.
- Nashville, Tenn. (+1)
- Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich. (+4)
- Pittsburgh
- Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, N.C.
- Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill. (+4)
- Phoenix (-1)
- Denver (-6)
- Milwaukee
- Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (+1)
- Charleston-Huntington, W.Va. (+5)
- Boston (-4)
- Syracuse, N.Y. (+7)
- Dayton, Ohio (-2)
- St. Louis (+2)
- Seattle (-2)
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (+9)
- Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, M.I. (new to list)
- Omaha, N.E. (-6)
- Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque, Iowa (-2)
- San Diego (new to list)
- Lexington, Ky. (+1)
- Honolulu, Hawaii (+5)
- Louisville, Ky. (-3)
- Las Vegas (+4)
- Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C. (-4)
- New Orleans (new to list)
- Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C. (-9)
- Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. (-14)
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
“The number of bed bug infestations in the United States is still rising,” says Dr. Tim Husen, an Orkin entomologist. “They continue to invade our homes and businesses on a regular basis because they are not seasonal pests, and only need blood to survive,” he says.
What to do to check your home for bed bugs.
At Home:
- Inspect your home for signs of bed bugs regularly. Check the places where bed bugs hide during the day, including mattress tags and seams, and behind baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets and picture frames.
- Decrease clutter around your home to make it easier to spot bed bugs on your own or during professional inspections.
- Inspect all secondhand furniture before bringing it inside your home. This is a common way for bed bugs to be introduced into homes.
- Dry potentially infested bed linens, curtains and stuffed animals on the hottest temperature allowed for the fabric.
During travel, remember the acronym S.L.E.E.P to inspect for bed bugs:
- Survey the hotel room for signs of an infestation. Be on the lookout for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattress seams, in soft furniture and behind headboards.
- Lift and look in bed bug hiding spots: the mattress, box spring, and other furniture, as well as behind baseboards, pictures and even torn wallpaper.
- Elevate luggage away from the bed and wall. The safest places are in the bathroom or on counters.
- Examine your luggage carefully while repacking and once you return home from a trip. Always store luggage away from the bed.
- Place all dryer-safe clothing from your luggage in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at the highest setting after you return home.
Courtesy of Orkin.com
