Summer means mosquitoes, and they are always plentiful in the D.C. area.
Terminix ranks D.C. No. 4 on this year’s annual list of Top Mosquito Cities.
The pest control company bases its list on internet search trends for mosquito mitigation from 2020. Florida had the highest search frequency for ways to get rid of mosquitoes, with six cities in the top 25. Five cities in Texas are in the top 25, and four are in California.
Mosquitoes aren’t just annoying. They are a health threat. Mosquito-borne diseases infect millions globally each year, and kill more than one million people a year, according to the American Mosquito Control Association.
The CDC lists mosquitoes as the world’s deadliest animal. In 2018, it says the number of severe cases of West Nile virus in the continental U.S. was 25% higher than the average incidence from 2008 to 2017. In the past 30 years, the worldwide incidence of dengue fever has risen 30-fold.
See the full list of Terminix’s Top Mosquito Cities. Here are the top 10:
- Bakersfield, California
- Jonseboro, Arkansas
- Ft. Myers, Florida
- Washington, D.C.
- Joplin, Missouri
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Fresno, California
- Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida
- Flint, Michigan
- Panama City, Florida
