Researchers Find That Bed Bug Infestations In Los Angeles Are Becoming More Frequent Than Infestations In New York City
There is not one single state, county, city or town in the United States where a person can remain safe from bed bugs. Bed bugs are even abundant within Alaska’s cities, and the insects have become well established in arctic regions all over the world. It may be hard to imagine, but America was virtually bed bug-free during the latter half of the last century. Unfortunately, during the 90s, bed bugs began to reappear in homes, businesses, public buildings, buses and airports within larger American cities. Once the 2000s arrived, bed bugs had become well-established in every nook and cranny of the country, especially in southern California. Despite southern California’s high population and its value as a tourist destination, bed bugs were relatively slow to spread in the region’s most populous cities. Today, however, Los Angeles is one of the most bed bug-infested cities in the US. In fact, experts claim that LA sees a greater amount of bed bug infestations than New York City.
Considering New York City’s dense arrangement of apartments and high population, it is hard to believe that the city does not surpass all others in terms of bed bug infestation rates. Not only is New York City smaller than LA in terms of area, but the Big Apple is also home to nearly nine million people, which is more than twice LA’s population. Considering that bed bugs spread by attaching themselves to moving people, one has to wonder how LA could become the 3rd most bed bug-infested city in the US, while NYC holds the number 8 spot. As it happens, LA’s rate of bed bug infestations have been increasing dramatically during the past few years, but luckily, experts believe that the rate will soon slow and remain consistent in the city.
Bed Bug infestations have been increasing by more than 35% each year in Los Angeles, and experts say that around 40% of homeowners and tenants in the entire state of California have dealt with bed bug issues. Infestations within California’s rental homes have become so common that state lawmakers made drastic changes to landlord-tenant laws concerning bed bugs two years ago, long after New York made changes to their own bed bug laws in an effort to reduce infestation rates. Bed bugs may seem out of control in Los Angeles now, but pest controllers and entomologist in southern California are quickly catching up to the bloodsucking insect pests.
Do you believe that bed bug infestation rates will soon decrease in LA?
