Are you experiencing any itchiness? A new report has been released by a national pest control company, highlighting the cities in the United States that are facing the most severe bed bug problems.
Orkin has released its findings on the metro areas with the highest number of bed bug treatments conducted between Dec. 1, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2023.
Orkin reports that bed bugs have small, flat, oval-shaped bodies and are wingless. Adult bed bugs have a brown coloration, but their bodies may take on a reddish hue after they have fed. These creatures have a unique feeding habit – they exclusively rely on blood as their source of nutrition. It is important to inspect your mattress for pests, even if you have avoided staying in hotels.
Orkin’s ranking encompasses both residential and commercial treatments:
- Chicago, Illinois
- New York, New York
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Cleveland-Akron, Ohio
- Los Angeles, California
- Detroit, Michigan
- Washington, D.C.
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Champaign, Illinois
- Columbus, Ohio
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Denver, Colorado
Bed Bugs at Home
It is advised to regularly inspect your home for any indications of bed bugs, according to Orkin.
- Inspect various areas such as mattress tags and seams, as well as behind baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets, and picture frames.
- It is important to thoroughly inspect your house on various occasions, such as when you move in, return from a trip, have a service worker visit, or after guests stay overnight.
- Reducing the amount of clutter in your home can help you identify bed bugs more easily.
- It is important to thoroughly inspect any used furniture before bringing it into your home.
Bed Bugs During Travel
When traveling, it is recommended to use the acronym S.L.E.E.P., according to Orkin.
- Survey: Check the hotel room for stains that look like ink on the edges of the mattress, in soft furniture, and behind the headboards. These could be signs of an infestation.
- Lift and look: Bed bugs like to hide in the mattress, box spring, furniture, behind walls, pictures, and torn wallpaper. Lift the mattress and look inside.
- Elevate: Move your bags to the bathroom or tables and raise them off the bed and the wall.
- Examine: Check your bags again when you get home and when you’re packing again. Keep your bags away from the bed.
- Place: Once you get home, take the clothes out of your bags and dry them on the highest setting for at least 30 to 45 minutes.
Three cities saw big jumps in the number of people getting treatment, moving them up the list from last year’s rank. Greensboro, North Carolina, moved up 25 spots and is now in the top 20. It went up 15 spots for Milwaukee and 10 spots for Tampa.
Bed bugs don’t just make people in the U.S. stay up at night. France is hosting the Olympics in July, and in the past few months, the government has tried to calm the public down after videos on social media were said to show bed bugs on trains and buses.
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