Thaindian News

August 25, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): A survey conducted by the pest extermination service company Terminix revealed that New York topped the list of the most bedbug infested cities in the United States of America. The survey was based on the total number of calls to the office of the company.

Clint Briscoe, the spokesman for Terminix said that the company was used to receiving around two calls a month for bedbug eradication. However, the calls have increased sharply to more than a dozen every week. He also admitted that the company’s business of exterminating the bedbugs have indeed increased with most of the calls coming from the households and not offices.

International travel is the root cause of this problem feels the company executives. It would be impossible to explain the reappearance of bedbugs almost 60 years after its eradication otherwise. The calls from several smaller cities across the country indicate that the tiny mites are indeed getting a grip on the heartland of USA. The insects are often carried on clothing, luggage as well as pieces of furniture which helps them to spread far and wide.

The cities of Dayton and Louisville feature at No. 8 and No. 13 on Terminix’s list and their etymologist, Paul Curtis says that this proves that the bedbugs are back again, liable to pop up anywhere through the length and breadth of the country.

Christine Quinn, the councilwoman for New York City has admitted that the city has witnessed a significant rise of bedbugs and announced the spending of $500,000 on creating awareness about the blood sucking pests. The bedbugs are not known to be carriers of any disease so far but are particularly difficult to get rid of.

Offices of Victoria’s Secret lingerie, the teen clothing store Hollister as well as hundreds of hotels all across the nation have spent substantial amounts in trying to get rid of the bedbug problem. The Harlem office of the erstwhile president Bill Clinton had also been plagued by the same problem earlier.

Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus from the state of Ohio has made it to the list of the top 10 most infested cities along with Chicago, the largest city of Illinois. Orkin, the pest control company based in Atlanta compiled a list of the 10 most prominent cities which were infested by the bedbugs.