Cities Stinging From Mosquitoes Take to Twitter

MEMPHIS, TN--(Marketwired - May 19, 2016) - There's one pesky follower Twitter users wouldn't mind losing. New Yorkers are leading the nation in a futile Twitter campaign against mosquitoes, registering more than 27,000 concise complaints since the start of 2015. Their furious thumbs are followed by tweets from Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.

This coast-to-coast, 140-character griping was captured by Terminix^®, the leading provider of termite and mosquito control services in the United States. The company combed through more than 500,000 tweets to discover where skeeters are getting on tweeters' nerves the most. The top 50 cities buzzing about mosquitoes are:

"For most people, mosquito control means incessant swatting, open flames and noxious aerosols," said Stan Cope Ph.D., director of entomology and regulatory services for Terminix. "We want these tweeters and regular bite victims to know they have simple, professional options. Our mosquito control services are much more effective than sprays and candles, and allow you to enjoy the outdoors without it becoming a big production."

Terminix offers eco-friendly mosquito service in branches across the country. Its highly effective solution drastically reduces mosquito populations and is safe for use around kids, pets and food. The formula combines mosquito-toxic garlic oil with irresistible fruit extracts to bait them in and wipe them out. The service is performed monthly and is proven to kill more than 90 percent of mosquito populations in two to three weeks(1).

Additional discoveries from the Terminix Twitter study include:

• If the cities were ranked per capita, Glasgow, Mont., would come in at No. 1, followed by Kingsville, Texas; Key West, Florida; Aberdeen, South Dakota; and Woodward, Okla.
• A majority of the tweets paired 'mosquito' with 'bites,' 'outside' or 'summer;' many turned violent with 'kill,' 'control' or some choice expletives; and a significant number reflected current headlines with 'GMO' and 'Zika.'
• The most-used hashtags include: #Zika, #ZikaVirus, #Health, #Summer and #Bugs.
• Women tend to have the itchiest fingers, claiming responsibility for 63 percent of the total tweets.

To find the nation's most bitter bite victims, Terminix analyzed 510,234 geo-tagged tweets shared between Jan. 1, 2015, and April 24, 2016, mentioning 'mosquito' as a pest. Rankings were determined based on the number of English-language tweets in each U.S. city. Terminix used Crimson Hexagon social media analytics software to collect this data from Twitter.

Terminix offers a number of mosquito control options. In addition to its eco-friendly mosquito service that is safe around kids and pests, Terminix also offers a knockdown solution for immediate adult mosquito kills, larvicide to kill the immature stages developing in water and other methods to eliminate the pests.

For more information, visit Terminix.com or call your local Terminix branch.

About Terminix ^®
Terminix is the leading provider of termite and pest control services in the United States. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Terminix services approximately 2.8 million residential and commercial customers in 47 states and 22 countries. Terminix provides pest control services and protection against termites, rodents and other pests threatening human health and/or safety. Terminix is a business unit of ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV), a leading provider of essential residential and commercial services. To learn more about Terminix, visit www.Terminix.com.

About ServiceMaster ^®
ServiceMaster (NYSE: SERV) solves the homeowner's dilemma. Every day, we visit more than 75,000 homes and businesses through our extensive service network of expert professionals. Technology powers our trusted experts to engage with customers so they can order, buy and receive services when, where and how they want them. Our well-recognized brands includes American Home Shield (home warranties), AmeriSpec (home inspections), Furniture Medic (furniture repair), Merry Maids (residential cleaning), ServiceMaster Clean (janitorial and residential floor cleaning), ServiceMaster Restore (disaster restoration) and Terminix (termite and pest control). Like, follow or visit us at facebook.com/ServiceMaster, linkedin.com/ServiceMaster, twitter.com/ServiceMaster, or servicemaster.com.

[1] "ATSB Trial Summaries Israel 2013: ATSB with garlic oil encapsulated in beta-Cyclodextrin as active ingredient" by Dr. Gunter Mueller.

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