Residential and commercial pest control service provider in America, Orkin, ranked cities on Thursday according to how they are infested by rats.
The company identified the 50 leading cities based on the record of new record treatments they did from September last year to the same month this year.
For seven years straight, Chicago landed at the top spot of the list.
Two California cities were also listed for this year, and one of them is in the Bay Area.
The company said the most ‘rat-infested’ cities, ordered accordingly, are Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
Baltimore ranked 6th and is followed by Philadelphia, Detroit, Denver, and Cleveland, Oh.
San Diego landed the 17th spot while Sacramento was at the top 29.
The top 50 also included for the first time the cities of Portland, Maine, and Louisville, Kentucky.
The increase of the rats is attributed by the company to the current pandemic.
Rodents were left without any other option but to search for new food sources as restaurants are closed. Rats were frequently spotted infesting new areas as they have no food wastes to consume anymore, KRON4 reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a Rodent Control guidance due to the rampant rodent spread. The said issuance is intended to keep rats and mice away from businesses and residential places.
