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A plague of rats is reportedly terrorizing the Dutch city of Amsterdam. Disturbingly, frightened city officials are taking drastic action to control the vermin.
For example, feeding stale bread to pigeons can lead to a fine of $82.02 (€70) in parts of Amsterdam. The city has banned feeding pigeons because rats also eat the birds’ food.
Authorities are desperately trying to rid Amsterdam of all rat food. To that end, authorities placed special containers to collect food waste in Amsterdam’s streets. Interestingly enough, food collected in the containers can be converted into biogas to produce heat and electricity.
Authorities apparently hope that placing food in rat-proof containers will starve the rodents to death. Something has to be done because rats are out of control in Amsterdam.
Rats Are Out Of Control
Officials need to take drastic action because reports of rats in Amsterdam have gone up by 27% since 2015, Dutch News noted. Amsterdam authorities reportedly received 2,500 rat reports in 2016.
Frighteningly, Amsterdam is not the only Dutch city dealing with a plague of rats. Dutch officials reportedly installed similar special containers in The Hague.
Dutch authorities are taking extreme action against rats because they are afraid of disease. History teaches us that rats will spread a wide variety of deadly diseases including the plague.
Plague Of Rats Can Lead To The Plague
Just a few of the diseases that rats can spread include the plague, Hantavirus, Hemorrhagic Fever, Lassa Fever, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis, Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever, Rat-Bite Fever, Tularemia, South American Arenaviruses, and Rabies.
Frighteningly, rats can transmit all of those diseases directly to humans. Obviously, the worst of those diseases is the plague or Black Death.
People are fearful of the plague because the Black Death was the worst epidemic in history. The Black Death apparently killed 75 to 100 million people between 1347 and 1351.
The plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis, spreads by fleas found on rodents. Consequently, controlling rats can limit the plague’s spread. Some historical accounts blame rats carried on ships for spreading the Black Death from Europe to China.
The Plague Is Still With Us
News reports demonstrate that the plague is still alive and well today. As an illustration, there was a plague epidemic in Madagascar last year.
Shockingly, 202 people died from the plague in Madagascar between August 1 and November 22, 2017. The Madagascar Ministry of Public Health reported 2,348 cases of the plague during the same period.
Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) apparently feared that the plague would continue through April 2018. Everybody should be scared of the Madagascar outbreak because rats from the island nation can get on ships.
The Madagascar epidemic is why Dutch officials are so concerned. Amsterdam is a port that attracts ships from all over the world. Therefore, the ships can bring rats from all over the world.
Furthermore, Madagascar is not the only place where the plague is killing people. A 42-year-old man reportedly died from the plague in Peru on July 6, 2018.
Disturbingly, the man probably contracted the plague from a flea bite, Outbreak Today reported. Authorities reported that the man developed septicemic plague, which is a worse form of the disease called pneumonic plague.
How To Protect Your Family From Rats And The Plague
Fortunately, there are many steps that you can take to protect your family from the plague of rats.
Ways to protect your family from the plague of rats include:
- Dispose of all food waste as fast as possible. Effective methods of food waste disposal include fire (incinerators), your garbage disposal, pigs, and flushing.
- Stop feeding birds around your home because rats love birdfeed.
- Store garbage in a tight metal or plastic container.
- Try to get garbage pickup at your house as frequently as possible.
- If you make compost, always make sure the compost container is sealed, rat-proof, and away from the house.
- Make sure that there’s no garbage, debris, abandoned buildings or vehicles, bushes, woodpiles, or any other place where rats can live on your property.
- Put out traps or poison as soon as you see any sign of rodents on your property.
- Pick up pet food and store it away when mealtime is over. Clean the bowls because rats love dog and cat food.
- Seal any hole that rats or mice can use to enter your home.
- Put flea collars on your cats and dogs and wash them with flea shampoo on a regular basis.
The best way to protect your family from the plague of rats is to be vigilant. In conclusion, rats can live anywhere people live and they can bring the plague with them.
