Bedbugs! Terminix ranks Phila. No. 2 behind NYC for infestation of the blood-sucking pests

LIKE IT OR NOT, a lot of trends that start in New York slowly find their way to Philly, from pricey mojitos to diners-as-gourmet-restaurants to industrial lofts.

But did it have to be bedbugs, too?

A new report by pest-extermination company Terminix aims to rip the covers off what some local cleaners, bug experts and residents say has been the city's dirty secret for the last year or two - that Philadelphia is quietly experiencing a major bedbug attack.

In fact, the Terminix study - which the company based on call-center stats and from canvassing its 350 service centers coast-to-coast - comes out like the 2009 World Series, with New York on top and Philadelphia the runner-up, ahead of urban rivals such as Detroit (No. 3) and four cities in Ohio that made the top 15.

Philadelphia officials said yesterday that the city Health Department doesn't keep records on cases of the hard-to-see, bloodsucking, mattress-loving pests, but bug sprayers and apartment cleaners say they have seen a lot more of them here in the last year or two.

"Three, four, five years ago, we rarely ever heard of bedbug calls," said Chris Anfinsen, a board-certified entomologist who works for Terminix in the Philadelphia region. "But that has increased over several years. We went from only a few calls, to now we have many calls."

"It's really disgusting and nobody seems to be taking it seriously - it just keeps growing," said a city-based cleaning professional with 15 years of experience. She spoke anonymously because she didn't want to offend her clients, mostly upscale Center City apartment-dwellers.

The cleaner said she and her crew has encountered bedbugs in several units in Center City over the last 18 months. It's gotten to the point that after work every night, she changes into a fresh set of clothes outside - before going into her house - and immediately washes the old ones in hot water and jumps in the shower.

In recent months, there has been increasing hype over the bedbug problem in New York, where one recent survey found 6.7 percent of residents have encountered the less-than-a-centimeter night-crawlers that leave victims covered with red, welty bites. In the Big Apple, the pests are everywhere, from the basement of the Empire State Building to a Victoria's Secret on Lexington Avenue.