Category Archives: Bed Bugs Washington DC

After joining the list last year, Toledo saw the biggest jump moving up 23 spots to number 27. Denver and Charleston both broke into the top 20, and six new cities joined the top 50 list for the first time this year.

The list is based on treatment data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bed bug treatmentsfrom December 1, 2019 November 30, 2020. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

Typically, bed bugs are 3/16 inch long and are mostly nocturnal insects that come out of hiding to take blood meals from sleeping humans and are red to dark brown in color. Bed bugs are hematophagous, which means blood is their only food source. They can travel from place to place with ease, including items such as luggage, purses and other personal belongings.

"Bed bugs are a concern for everyone because they are master hitchhikers, traveling home with people when they likely don't realize it," said Ben Hottel, an Orkin entomologist. "Their nature of hiding in difficult-to-find cracks and crevices once introduced into a room can make them hard to control, which is why involving a trained professional at the sight of an introduction is recommended."

With the anticipation and excitement around 2021 travel, it's easy to forget that bed bugs are still very much a threat and should be top of mind for anyone who is itching to take a trip. Bed bugs can survive for several months while waiting for their next blood meal, so they're likely to emerge when a food source, humans, become available.

Whether you decide to travel or want to be proactive at your home, remember the acronym S.L.E.E.P. to inspect for bed bugs:

Celebrating a milestone anniversary this year, Orkin is proud to have achieved 120 years of business, an accomplishment that can be attributed to the company's ongoing commitment to excellent service. With well over a century of knowledge and experience with bed bugs and state-of-the-art tools and products, Orkin is well-equipped to assess your bed bug problem and mount a strategic response to rid your home of the pest and provide maximum protection.

For more information about bed bug prevention, visit Orkin.com. You can also find additional detection tips in Orkin's video on "How to Check for Bed Bugs in Hotel Rooms."

About Orkin, LLCFounded in 1901, Atlanta-based Orkin is an industry leader in essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects. Proudly celebrating 120years of business this year, the company is committed to excellent service and operates more than 400 locations with more than 8,000 employees. Through Orkin's Points of Service process Investigate, Protect, Fortify, Keep Watch, Report and Follow Up Orkin provides customized services to approximately 1.7 million homeowners and businesses in the United States and has nearly 100 international locations in more than 65 countries. Orkin is committed to studying pest biology and applying scientifically proven methods. The company collaborates with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and eight major universities to conduct research and help educate consumers and businesses on pest-related health threats. Learn more about Orkin atOrkin.com. Orkin is a wholly-owned subsidiary ofRollins Inc.(NYSE: ROL). Follow us onFacebook,LinkedIn, YouTubeand Instagram.

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https://www.orkin.com

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New Year, New Top City on Orkin's 2021 Bed Bug Cities List: Chicago - PRNewswire

The pest-control company features a whopping six Ohio cities on its 2021 list of 50 metros that bed bugs love.

Bed bug nymphPhoto: Public Domain You can feel your skin crawling after reading that headline, cant you?

There may be a reason for that. Orkin, the national pest-control company, says that Cincinnati is among the top cities for bed bugs.

Cincinnati comes in at No. 8 on Orkins list of 50 bug-friendly cities for 2020, released on Feb. 1. The company based its list on data for metro areas with the most bed-bug treatments Dec. 1, 2019-Nov. 30, 2020. Orkin says the data includes both residential and commercial treatments.

But Cincinnati isnt the only Ohio location drawing warnings from Orkin. The Buckeye State has a whopping six cities that are bed-bug havens. Columbus is at No. 5, followed by Cleveland at No. 6., Toledo at No. 27, and Dayton at No. 28. Youngstown enters the list for the first time at No. 40.

Chicago tops Orkins list this year, followed by Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Bed bugs are about 3/16 long and often move from location to location via purses and luggage.

Orkin says that bed bugs are a big issue, despite travel being limited in 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And with vaccines now being distributed and people beginning to plan the years activities, things still could be itchy for 2021.

With the anticipation and excitement around 2021 travel, its easy to forget that bed bugs are still very much a threat and should be top of mind for anyone who is itching to take a trip, Orkin says in a release on its website. Bed bugs can survive for several months while waiting for their next blood meal, so theyre likely to emerge when a food source, humans, become available.

Hamilton County Public Health features a guide to bed bugs on its website, including how to prevent the insects from becoming a problem in the first place.

Indirect measures can go a long way in controlling bed bugs: monitoring for signs of bedbugs in your home, vacuuming regularly, and checking your belongings. Prevent bed bugs from getting into homes by checking clothing, used furniture and belongings before entering the home and monitor where you have visited. Continue to reduce clutter and unwanted items in your home and hire a professional exterminator to inspect your home if you suspect there are bedbugs, the website says..

In 2020, Orkin ranked the Queen City as No. 8.

Read the full list of cities that bed bugs apparently love on Orkins website.

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Congrats, Cincinnati! We're Among Orkin's Top Bed Bug Cities - Cincinnati CityBeat

Bed bug feeding on human skin.

A new study concluded this week that bed bugs were such a problem in France that they now pose a national health hazard.

The creatures have been on the rise globally but in the past decade, bed bugs have proliferatedthey are now found in every U.S. state and countries across Europe have seen huge infestations, notably Paris (which is the number one visited capital in the world).

At the beginning of 2020, the French Union for Pest Control stated that, Frances bed bug problem has seen the number of cases go from 180,000 to 400,000 in just two years.

The French government website states that they arrived in France in the 1950s with the advent of international travel and have proliferated because of their increasing resistance to insecticide. It says that bedrooms and living rooms are predominantly more affected.

A New York Times article suggested that 1 in 5 Americans have been plagued by bed bugs or know someone who has. Washington DC, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles were the most plagued.

Christian Cadieux (R), owner of Bed Bugs Bite fumigates a mattress as part of their process to get ... [+] rid of bed bugs.

Bed bugs are incredibly difficult to remove. They hitch a ride on suitcases and clothes. They can live for many months without having a drink of human blood. To kill them, you need temperatures of minus four degrees Fahrenheit. They reproduce quickly and are immune to common insecticides. They are not fussy about cleanliness or dirtthey are a great leveller in that sense. They can lay two to five eggs each day and you just need one pregnant female to start a brood. They are also incredibly difficult to find.

Quoted from the New York Times, a report by French doctors,writing in The New England Journal of Medicinein June, stated that between blood meals, bedbugs hide in dark places, such as household cracks and crevices, walls, luggage, bedclothes, mattresses, bedsprings, bed frames, spaces under baseboards, loose or peeling wallpaper, electrical switch plates and conduits for electrical cables.

Bed bugs feast mostly at night, crawling from human host to host, leaving bites, but it is the psychological damage which can be most affecting. Bed bugs do not carry infectious diseases.

A bed bug in a flat in Hong Kong on May 26, 2017.

The study analysed 72,000 consultations with doctors across France from April 2019 to March 2020 who reported issues with bed bugsamounting to 110 out of every 100,000 inhabitants in France. 98% of reported cases had suffered from skin lesions (itchy bites), 37% said they had suffered from insomnia as a result and 37% claimed the presence of bed bugs had had a negative impact on their professional, family and social life.

As reported byrfi, they increase in numbers in warmer weather with the two worst affected regions in France being the Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes region and Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur, the coastal region on the Mediterranean. There were very few reported cases in Paris, but because the data comes from GPs, it is unlikely to include tourists, who would probably visit their own doctors upon their return, as The Local points out.

France launched a prevention campaign in February, which formed the basis of the campaign for one of the candidates for Paris mayor, where people can receive advice on prevention and cure. There is a website (Stop-punaises.gouv.fr) and a hotline (0806 706 806).

It remains to be seen what impact Covid-19 and the slowdown of global travel will have on the bed bug population.

To search for bed bugs, check the seams of the mattress, where they love to congregate and then blast it with a hairdryer as the warm air should encourage them into the open.

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Bed Bugs On The Rise, Despite Covid-19, New Study Suggests - Forbes

Bed bugs were extinct in the United States decades ago. Two things, however, have changed since those times: Social conscience and healthy-living initiatives have caused us to discontinue use of caustic insecticides, and an increase in global travel has allowed bed bugs to travel to the United States via human travelers and their belongings. Now, our nation is much more habitable for the bed bugs. The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius Linnaeus) is a parasite which lives on the outside of the body of the host. Bed bugs feed only on the blood of warm-blooded hosts. They can conceal themselves in any tight crack or crevice, and are often found in padding, such as mattresses and box springs. They can also hide behind electrical faceplates, baseboards, folded areas of beds, bedding, adjacent furniture, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a shelter, apartment, or structure. Bed bugs do not discriminate and have been known to thrive in the fanciest hotels and homes, to the most modest dwellings.

Unlike cockroaches, bed bugs travel by hitchhiking, and commonly take a ride on a human host, or a persons garments or travel bags. Bed bugs usually feed at night but can take a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily-infested areas. They usually require 5-10 minutes to engorge with the hosts blood. After feeding, they move to a secluded place and hide for 5-10 days. During this time, they do not feed, but instead digest their meal, mate, and lay eggs. Here are some quick facts:

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Bed Bugs Information | doh - Washington, D.C.