COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Pest control company Orkin released their annual bed bug list, and it’s not good news for Columbus.
The country’s biggest cities are at the top of the list, with Columbus at number five.
Several other Ohio cities also made the list, with Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton all in the top 30.
Orkin said the list is based on treatment data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bed bug treatments from December 1, 2015, through November 30, 2016. The ranking includes residential and commercial treatments.
- Baltimore (+9)
- Washington, D.C. (+1)
- Chicago (-2)
- New York
- Columbus, Ohio
- Los Angeles (-4)
- Detroit
- Cincinnati
- Philadelphia (-3)
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (+4)
- Richmond-Petersburg, Va. (-2)
- Raleigh-Durham, N.C. (-1)
- Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio (-1)
- Indianapolis (+1)
- Dallas-Ft. Worth (-2)
- Atlanta (+3)
- Houston
- Buffalo, N.Y. (+2)
- Charlotte, N.C. (-3)
- Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Va. (+10)
- Knoxville, Tenn. (+3)
- Denver (-4)
- Nashville, Tenn. (-1)
- Pittsburgh (+5)
- Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, N.C. (-4)
- Phoenix (-3)
- Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich. (+5)
- Boston (-3)
- Milwaukee (-3)
- Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill. (+12)
- Hartford-New Haven, Conn. (+3)
- Dayton, Ohio (-4)
- Omaha, Neb. (+3)
- Seattle-Tacoma (-6)
- Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. (-4)
- Charleston-Huntington, W.Va. (-1)
- St. Louis (+3)
- Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque, Iowa (+3)
- Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C. (+11)
- Syracuse, N.Y. (+6)
- Louisville, Ky. (-2)
- Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C.
- Lexington, Ky. (-10)
- Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla. (-6)
- Kansas City, Mo. (-1)
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (-3)
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Las Vegas
- Portland, Ore.
The company recommends the following to help prevent and detect bed bugs:At Home:
- Inspect your home for signs of bed bugs regularly. Check locations where bed bugs hide during the day, including mattress seams and behind baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets and picture frames.
- Decrease clutter around your home to make bed bug inspections and detection much easier.
- Inspect all secondhand furniture before bringing it inside your home.
- 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. Look for black or brown spots on any furniture.
- Lift and look in bed bug hiding spots: the mattress, box spring, bed skirt and other furniture, as well as behind baseboards, pictures and even torn wallpaper.
- Elevate luggage away from the bed and wall. The safest place is in the bathroom.
- Examine your luggage while repacking and once you return home from a trip.
- Place all dryer-safe clothing from your luggage in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at the highest setting after you return home.
Bed bugs can quickly become a major problem, as they can spread from room to room if undetected and allowed to multiply. Anyone who suspects a bed bug infestation should contact a pest management professional immediately.
