DC ranked 4th "rattiest" city

Georgetown restaurant rats highlights area problem, owner says

FOX 5 News at 5:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON - Washington, D.C. has come in on Orkin's "Rattiest City" list at number four, below Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Orkin ranks metro regions by the number of new rodent treatments performed from September 1, 2021, to August 31, 2022. This ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

Nearby Baltimore, MD, is ranked the seventh rattiest city.

"Rodent infestations are among the top pest issues of the fall and winter seasons," said Ben Hottel, an Orkin entomologist. "Not only are mice and rats a nuisance, but they are known to spread a variety of dangerous diseases, including Salmonella and Hantavirus."

Shocking video shows rats inside Dupont Circle pizza restaurant

The D.C. Health Department has launched an investigation into a Northwest Washington pizza restaurant after a disturbing video allegedly shows rats running around inside the kitchen.

The rat issue in D.C. has been ongoing. One neighborhood association, the DuPont East Civic Action Association, called on Mayor Muriel Bowser, councilmembers, and other city agency heads to take a closer look at the growing rat population this past spring. In a letter, DECAA blamed the DC Department of Public Works for providing trash containers that rats can easily chew through.

"Every place from you know Nats field up to here is infested with rats and I just can’t emphasize enough, DPW has known about this problem for years and they haven’t done anything to correct it. And it’s just – got to be the most monumental incompetence I’ve ever seen," said DECAA's Michael Hays.