Amid stay-at-home restrictions across the country to battle the coronavirus spread, trash bins outside restaurants no longer overflow with scrumptious leftovers, rather people produce more food waste at home, which has led rats infesting more in residential areas, prompting the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue guidelines on how to deter them.
These restrictions have led to the closure of many restaurants and cafes with limited to takeout and delivery, and with the reduced sales. Rodents feasting on the scraps in empty streets in Chicago and New York have become concerning for the CDC who fear that they can also carry disease, as per a report published in The Washington Post.
The CDC advised home and business owners to cover garbage cans, put bird and pet food out of reach and seal small holes rodents could access in buildings. If people follow established cleng guidelines, they can avoid exposure to rodent-borne diseases, the agency said.
"Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food," the CDC said.
"Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behaviour," it added.
In cities trying to combat rodent issues, such as Washington, pest control workers are classified as essential. The District of Columbia has had more than 800 calls regarding rodents in the past month, according to city 311 data.
Rats can transmit food-borne illnesses such as salmonella, and their urine can also worsen allergies and asthma, especially in children, Jim Fredericks, the chief entomologist at the National Pest Management Association, previously told The Post.
Rats pose an additional threat to those working from home: they can devour cars. Rats gnawing at car engines and tires have caused fires, cost car owners fortunes and goaded officials to seek do-it-yourself solutions.
Urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan foresaw increased reports of aggressive rodents when the pandemic began. He said with restaurants closing, rats would need to adapt to find new food sources. In late March, he put out a call to other pest experts to share what they find surveying their areas.
Corrigan told The Post that a pest expert sent him a photo after a gruesome rat battle in Queens: A nest of rats had left to scrounge for food at their usual city block of restaurants but turned on each other when they couldn't find enough scraps, Corrigan believes. A pile of rat limbs on the sidewalk was all that remained.
"Many of these rats in our cities depend on their nightly food, which is the restaurants and hotels and bars and doughnut shops and everything that we consume on the go," Corrigan said.
To keep rats from dining at your home, he advises following CDC guidance, securing food properly so rats can't get to it. He recommends people avoid inhumane traps or poison.
"Deny them the opportunity, and you'll never even know they've visited your property," he said further.
( With inputs from ANI )