WASHINGTON — Residents of the D.C. metro area may want to wear some extra bug repellent after ranking near the top of a list of cities with the most mosquitoes in 2013.
Pest-control company, Orkin released its list of the top 20 mosquito cities, based on the number of mosquito treatments the company performed in 2013.
D.C. ranked No. 3 on the list behind Atlanta and Chicago.
The Virginia cities of Richmond and Norfolk made it on the list at 11th and 19th, respectively.
Nine of the cities on the list are in the Southeast and six of the cities are in the Midwest region.
Below is the list of the top 20 mosquito cities, according to Orkin:
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Washington, D.C.
- Detroit
- Raleigh-Durham
- Boston
- Houston
- Nashville
- Charlotte
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Richmond-Petersburg
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale
- Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek
- Memphis
- Columbus, Ohio
- Cleveland-Akron
- Huntsville-Decatur, Alabama
- Minneapolis-St. Paul
- Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
“Temperatures are rising, and that means the mosquito population will soon be on the rise too,” Orkin Technical Services Director Kim Kelley-Tunis said in a news release.
Around the country, June, July and August are peak mosquito months because of warmer temperatures. The season can stretch through October, Orkin says.
Mosquitoes can carry illnesses such as West Nile virus, yellow fever and dengue fever. Also, mosquito bites also can transmit heartworm disease in pets.
“There is no telling how large this year’s population will be or how severe the nation’s West Nile virus cases could become,” Kelley-Tunis said in the release.
“That’s why it’s important for families to start taking precautions against mosquitoes now.”
To prevent mosquitoes, Orkin offers the following suggestions:
- Apply an EPA-approved insect repellent before heading outside.
- Wear long sleeves and pants outside at dawn and dusk — the main times when mosquitoes feed.
- Mosquitoes need a small amount of water to breed, so empty any standing water
- Make sure there aren’t any holes and gaps in window screens where mosquitoes could make their way indoors.
Related Stories:
- Tips to keep those pesky mosquitoes away
- Maryland takes aim at mosquitoes
- Garden Plot: How to beat back mosquitoes
- Afraid to camp? Nothing to fear but fear itself
- Painful and rapid spread of new virus in Caribbean
h/t: Prevention
Follow @WTOP and @WTOPliving on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
