It turns out that North America is lousy with bedbugs, and the problem is only getting worse. Popular thought lays the blame for this infestation at the feet of international travelers, who bring the hungry pests back home, and foreign tourists, who carry the tiny biters along with them on their travels through North America.
Whatever the cause, the fact remains that we are being overrun with the little beasts. Orkin, a pest control company that knows a thing or two about bugs of all kind, recently released a list of the most bedbug ridden cities in America in 2013.
Top 50 Bed Bugs Infested Cities in the U.S.
- Chicago, IL
- Los Angeles, CA
- Columbus, OH
- Detroit, MI
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland/Akron/Canton, OH
- Dayton, OH
- Washington D.C.
- Denver, CO
- Indianapolis, IN
- Richmond/Petersburg, VA
- Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, NC
- Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
- Syracuse, NY
- Atlanta, GA
- Houston, TX
- New York City, NY
- Seattle/Tacoma, WA
- San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA
- Boston, MA
- Milwaukee, WI
- Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL
- Nashville, TN
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Charlotte, NC
- San Diego, CA
- Baltimore, MA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, IA
- Charleston/Huntington, WV
- Knoxville, TN
- Louisville, KY
- Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, MI
- Hartford/New Haven, CT
- Champaign/Springfield, IL
- Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, SC
- Omaha, NE
- Buffalo, NY
- Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney, NE
- Lexington, KY
- Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, CA
- Colorado Springs/Pueblo, CO
- Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
- Honolulu, HI
- Toledo, OH
- Peoria/Bloomington, IL
- Davenport, IA/Moline, IL
- New Orleans, LA
- Kansas City, MO
The bedbugs in some places are so thick that local governments are fighting back. Chicago’s City Council, for example, passed a law just last year that required all condo associations to have a bedbug detection, inspection and killing and removal plan in place.
Facility Managers Battle Back
Facility managers are in many cases on the front lines in this eternal battle between the blood suckers and those who long for restful nights of slumber. Facility managers in charge of hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, and senior living facilities need to be extra vigilant in the lookout for bedbugs. The first step in keeping your facilities safe from bedbugs is to schedule regular bedbug inspections to your work order system. To know just how frequently these inspections should take place, talk to your pest control contractor. These contractors are also the people to talk to when the time comes for you to create a bedbug detection, inspection and killing and removal plan for your facility.
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