D.C. among top 5 cities for bedbugs, Orkin reports

WASHINGTON — The District has made a big leap up a list no city wants to be on.

The annual list of the top 50 U.S. cities for bedbugs released by the pest control company Orkin sees D.C. at No. 3 in the country, up 11 spots from last year’s list.

Chicago retained its hold on the top spot for the fourth year in a row, while Los Angeles came in second, up two spots from last year. New York, which moved up 14 spots; and Columbus, Ohio, rounded out the top five.

Baltimore made an even bigger leap, moving from No. 31 to No. 10, while the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News area of Virginia debuted on the list at No. 30.

The list rankings reflect the number of bedbug treatments Orkin performed in each city in 2015.

“Bedbugs are the great hitchhiker of the bug world, and they are very difficult to control without professional help,” Ron Harrison, an Orkin entomologist and technical services director, said in a statement.

“Bedbugs can travel in luggage and other personal belongings to enter your home.”

Orkin’s list of tips for preventing bedbugs at home:

• Check places where bedbugs hide during the day, such as mattress seams and bed sheets. But they don’t just hide there: You need to look behind baseboards, electrical outlets and picture frames.
• Cleaning up clutter will make bedbugs a lot easier to spot.
• Inspect and quarantine any secondhand furniture before you bring it inside your house or apartment, and dry any bed linens, curtains and stuffed animals on the hottest temperature allowed for the fabric.

Any traveling you do gives bedbugs a great opportunity to hitch a ride with you. Orkin says to remember the acronym SLEEP:

• Survey the hotel room, especially looking for red or brown spots on sheets.
• Lift and look in the same spots you’d examine at home, as well as behind baseboards, pictures — even torn wallpaper.
• Elevate your luggage — put it away from the bed, wall and floor. Orkin suggests putting it in the bathroom or on counters.
• Examine your luggage while you repack and once you get home.
• Place all dryer-safe clothes from your luggage in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at the highest setting after you return home.

Orkin adds that bedbugs aren’t known to spread human diseases, and that some people have no reaction to bedbug bites. But many suffer from itchy red welts and swelling.

The top 50:

1. Chicago
2. Los Angeles
3. Washington, D.C.
4. New York
5. Columbus, Ohio
6. Philadelphia
7. Detroit
8. Cincinnati
9. Richmond-Petersburg, Va.
10. Baltimore
11. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
12. Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio
13. Dallas-Ft. Worth
14. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
15. Indianapolis
16. Charlotte, N.C.
17. Houston
18. Denver
19. Atlanta
20. Buffalo, N.Y.
21. Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, N.C.
22. Nashville, Tenn.
23. Phoenix
24. Knoxville, Tenn.
25. Boston-Manchester
26. Milwaukee
27. Dayton, Ohio
28. Seattle
29. Pittsburgh
30. Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Va.
31. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.
32. Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.
33. Lexington, Ky.
34. Hartford-New Haven, Conn.
35. Charleston-Huntington, W.Va.
36. Omaha, Neb.
37. San Diego
38. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.
39. Louisville, Ky.
40. St. Louis
41. Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Dubuque, Iowa
42. Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill.
43. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
44. Kansas City, Mo.
45. Sacramento-Stocktown-Modesto, Calif.
46. Syracuse, N.Y.
47. Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo.
48. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
49. Honolulu
50. Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.