Bowling Green is 48th on pest control company Orkin’s annual “Bedbug Cities” list.

Based on the number of treatments the company did in 2014, the list is comprised of the 50 most bedbug-ridden cities in the United States. This is Bowling Green’s first time on the list.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said bedbugs are small, flat parasitic insects that feed solely on the blood of people and animals while they sleep. They are reddish-brown in color, wingless, can range from 1 millimeter to 7 millimeters long and can live several months without a blood meal.

“They’re a quarter of an inch long and easily seen. Droplets of blood are found where bedbugs are hiding,” said David Burton, environmental health program manager at the Barren River District Health Department. “They are relatively easy to find if you take the time to look and know what you’re looking for.”

Bedbugs can be in places that are clean or those with poor sanitation, said Shellie Miller, branch manager at Orkin in Bowling Green.

“They’re very nondiscriminatory. They will reproduce anywhere,” she said. “All they do is eat blood. That’s all they need to survive.”

The health department handles reports for bedbugs in hotels, motels and schools.

“We inspect and issue operating permits. Bedbugs are listed as a nuisance in that they bite people and are hard to get rid of,” Burton said. “They hitch rides on your clothes and just about anywhere. They’re not listed as a health hazard.”

When environmentalists find bedbugs, they refer the business to a licensed pest control operator as well as to the Kentucky Department of Public Health website at chfs.ky.gov/dph/ or the CDC website at cdc.gov.

“They’re pretty common. You just have to be watchful,” Burton said. “Check the bed, bed covers, walls behind the furniture. Just be thorough.”

Dr. Iass El Lakkis, an infectious disease specialist at The Medical Center, said bites from bedbugs are small and often linear in nature.

“They really don’t cause disease. They cause some itching, but don’t cause any other harms,” he said. “It isn’t painful when the bite happens. The problem is (that it) gives anxiety that somebody would be bitten by these bugs.”

Steroid creams and antihistamines are used to treat the bites, El Lakkis said. While that is important, there is something else that has to be done in order for the patient to get better – get rid of bedbugs.

“The best way is insecticides done by professionals,” he said.

Miller said Orkin, which does residential and commercial treatments, gets a “substantial” number of calls about bedbugs.

“It’s a growing concern. Any pest is,” she said. “This is what we do for a living.” 

They aren’t hard to get rid of once you know they’re there, Miller said.

“We have a lot of different products we use to treat them based on different criteria,” she said. “Everything is safe. Orkin is very safe in how they do their treatments. A lot of research and training goes into it.

“Certain products are used in different areas. (They consider) what you’re going to be touching versus what you’re not going to be touching,” Miller said. “Orkin is very trained in making sure our customers’ safety is number one.”

Orkin does free inspections before treatments and follow-up inspections, Miller said.

“It can be time consuming, but it’s worth it,” she said. Bedbugs “are not welcome in anyone’s home or business.”

Also on the list from Kentucky are Louisville at No. 22, up 10 from last year, and Lexington at No. 24, up 16 from last year. Nashville is No. 23. Chicago tops the list at No. 1, followed by Los Angeles, Detroit, Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio.

— Follow features reporter Alyssa Harvey on Twitter at twitter.com/bgdnfeatures