They’re creepy, they’re crawly and altogether icky. Bedbugs are plaguing the District, and a recent study by Orkin ranked the nation’s capital as the sixth-most infested city in the country. The D.C. Department of Health isn’t taking the problem lying down. The agency hosted its second annual Bed Bug Summit on Thursday to educate the public about the effects of the tiny parasites, and how to control an infestation.

“We need aggressive education on bed bugs, so urban residents can be informed,” said Gerard Brown, a program manager for the Health Department.