Several Chicago publications reported that the city plans to cut rodent control crews from this year’s streets and sanitation budget, despite city officials insisting that the report was untrue. This begs the question about how much of a threat do rodents pose in Chicago and to the health of city-dwellers.
Although the risk of rats causing widespread infectious diseases in developed cities is rare, the H1N1 scare is an example of how the fear of epidemics is present even in routine urban life. The mere suggestion of less vigilance in combating rodents should not be overlooked.
In response to Chicago’s rat problem, both the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune reported that the possible rodent control cuts will be drastic, but city officials say that they are not cutting any crews.
“The press blew this out of proportion,” said Matt Smith, spokesperson for the streets and sanitation department. “We are only temporarily redeploying some crews to garbage pick-up because the need for that is higher during this time of the year.”
Smith said that the current 17 rodent control crews will only be temporarily reduced to 15, but he did not give a time-frame for how long this redeployment will last.
Whether reduction of crews will result in an increase of rats this year can’t be determined. The city does not scientifically test trends in rat reproduction. However, it’s no news that rats have been an ongoing problem in the city.
The city of Chicago acknowledges that “the risk of disease being spread from rats to humans is very real” in their rodent control brochure. Rats can carry numerous infectious diseases that can spread to humans, such as rat-bite fever, Hepatitis E, the plague, salmonella, and hantavirus.
Although rare in the U.S., diseases spread by rodents can be a matter of life and death, especially in developing countries such as India and Taiwan where there was a recent outbreak of Scrub Typhus, a disease spread by mite-infested rodents which can be fatal if not treated promptly.
There is no national comprehensive record of the infection rate from diseases specifically spread by rats in the U.S., but there are different studies nationwide that look at rodent-borne disease by specific types.
The plague strikes many as being the most worrisome due to its historic context. But in reality, the plague is treatable using antibiotics if diagnosed early and is a rare and well-monitored disease worldwide. In the United States, most cases of the plague in humans occur in parts of California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, according to data collected by the Directors of Health Promotion and Education.
The data also says that the last rat-borne plague epidemic in the United States occurred in Los Angeles between 1924 and 1925. Today, human plague in the United States has occurred at an average of 10 to 20 persons each year, according to the CDC. Globally, the World Health Organization reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year.
The CDC, however, does not minimize the threat of both the pneumonic and bubonic plague, spread by humans and flea carrying rodents respectively. In fact, the CDC classifies the plague as a “Category A” pathogen – of high priority – that could be used in biological warfare.
Despite concerns about rat outbreaks in Chicago, the threat of any widespread epidemic caused by rodents is very unlikely, says George Manning, Chicago rat expert and president of American Pest Solutions.
“Rats can carry all kinds of diseases, but the threat of them spreading it to people is very rare in developed cities,” he said.
But it shouldn’t take an epidemic to get the city to enhance their rodent control services, he argues. His company gets calls from residents from all across Chicago about rats making their ways into gutters and kitchens.
“The problem is that there is no concentrated regular effort from the city. Chicago has no such a program that says they’ll sweep the entire area until all rats are gone,” he says. “They just clean up the areas where they get the most complaints, but neglect the source such as the sewers. They don’t even clean up private properties.”
The city places liability on residents to clean up their properties so not to attract rats, and can impose fines on those who are negligent. Manning says that the most recent estimate of the number of rats released by Mayor Daley was 500,000, but the rat expert believes the number to be much higher given the speed at which rats breed.
