Here's How Bad Bedbug-Infestation Is In Atlanta: Report

ATLANTA — If you felt your skin crawling, it may not just be in your mind. Orkin has released its list of "bedbug cities," and Atlanta is in the top 10.

The ranking is based on metro areas where Orkin performed the most bedbug treatments from Dec. 1, 2017, to Nov. 30, 2018. Both residential and commercial treatments are included.

Out of the top 50 urban areas ranked in Orkin's report, Atlanta came in No. 9.

"Bedbugs are the number-one urban pest in many cities today," Orkin entomologist Chelle Hartzer said in a statement. The insects hitchhike onto people from mattresses, luggage or other items. All they need for survival is blood. (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

"Sanitation has nothing to do with prevention: from public transit to five-star resorts, bed bugs have been and can be found everywhere humans are," Hartzer said. "They are master hitchhikers, so no one is immune."
These are the top 10 bedbug cities, according to Orkin:

1. Baltimore
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Chicago
4. Los Angeles
5. Columbus, Ohio
6. New York
7. Cincinnati
8. Detroit
9. ATLANTA
10. Philadelphia

Normally bedbugs come out at night to feed on people as they sleep. They lay two to five eggs a day, making them truly a pest to treat.

Signs of bedbugs are bites, blood-stained bedding or flat reddish-brown insect bodies. They are the size of an apple seed, according to Orkin.

To help detect bedbugs, Orkin recommends doing the following:

• Check common hiding spots for bedbugs — mattress tags and seams as well as behind baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets and picture frames.
• Decrease clutter to make it easier to spot bedbugs.
• Inspect secondhand furniture — a common way for bedbugs to be travel — before bringing into your home.
• Dry potentially infested bed linens, curtains and stuffed animals on the hottest temperature.

The most common places where professionals find bedbugs are single-family homes, apartments/condos and hotels/motels, according to the National Pest Management Association.

Hotels spend an average of $6,383 per bedbug incident, the association reported.

While traveling, Orkin also offers tips for looking for bedbugs:

• Look for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattress seams, furniture and behind headboards.
• Elevate luggage and keep it away from the bed, putting it in the bathroom or on counters.
• Dry all dryer-safe clothing on the highest setting when you get home for at least 15 minutes.

See Orkin's top bedbug cities list.

Patch Editors Kimberly Johnson and Elizabeth Janney contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of Orkin