Lifestyle Choices

Diseases Carried by Rats and Other Rodents

Of all the enemies that man must contend with in the animal kingdom, the worst is the rat. Not only do these animals carry harmful germs, but if given a chance, they will also destroy our food supply. Rats invade stores, destroying fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, carpets, clothing, and innumerable other things.

Rats destroy ten times more by pollution than by what they eat. They burrow under houses and buildings, weakening foundations. On the farm they destroy more eggs and chickens than all the wild animals combined.

Rats have changed the course of history many times during previous centuries. Wherever rats have gone, plagues and disease have followed. Frightful epidemics have swept over the whole world because of the spread of rats, and untold millions have died as a result. During the Middle Ages, Europe and Asia were repeatedly overrun by epidemics of plague. Whether or not the rats brought the plague with them, it is difficult to know.

Prior to that time rats were apparently unknown. Perhaps the plague was present in other animals as well. But wherever rats appeared, people suddenly became ill with a disease that physicians were powerless to control. Today we know it was the fleas on the rats that spread the disease from one rat to another and eventually from rats to human beings. Fleas will leave a dying rat and land on the first warm-blooded creature nearby, including man.

Small epidemics of plague were frequent all through the Middle Ages. But it was not until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that the situation became really serious. Many cities, such as London and Paris, were expanding rapidly. There was little or no sanitation and no proper disposal of rubbish. Most of the houses were old and provided ideal nesting places for rats. When the rats became infected with bubonic plague, it was not long before the human population came down with the disease. In some cities two thirds of the inhabitants perished.

Even within the present century some areas of the world have been overrun with plague. In India alone over twelve million people have died of plague since the turn of the century. Millions more have perished in China and other lands. Plague is a most serious disease. It could break out at any time. Today we can treat the disease with modern antibiotic drugs.

Wherever man has traveled, rats have gone along with him in the cargoes of ships, on trains, and by every other method imaginable. Health authorities in the large seaports use various means to prevent rats on ships from coming ashore. They place metal guards on the ropes and hawser lines by which ships are tied to the piers.

Rats are exceedingly cunning. They are among the most intelligent of all wild animals. They can cross deserts and high mountain ranges. They can swim across wide rivers. These hardy animals can live perfectly well in the wilds. But most of them prefer to live near human dwellings, probably because there is more food. These domesticated rats have completely adapted themselves to human methods of living.

Plague is carried by many wild animals other than rats. Squirrels, badgers, meadow mice, kangaroo rats, gophers, and similar animals all carry the fleas that transmit the plague. Bubonic plague germs are found in the fleas of ground squirrels and rodents throughout the western half of the United States. Great care should be taken not to become infected when handling such animals.

Whenever the normal rules of health are neglected, plague is likely to break out. As far as possible, all rats should be destroyed. This is of major importance in every city, not only because of plague, but also because rats carry so many other diseases. Unprotected food is so often contaminated by these creatures.

Protecting Your Home

In protecting your own home, see that all garbage and refuse are properly disposed of. Leaving rubbish around only provides food for rats and mice. Garbage cans should be well covered.

Check your plumbing carefully since rats prefer to live in the narrow spaces, between pipes and under floors. Be sure the doors to your cellar are kept tightly closed. If rats try to burrow around the edges, cover these areas with sheet iron. Ventilators, skylights, unused chimneys, and similar structures are favorite areas for rats. Homes can be made ratproof by using wire screens over all openings. Holes around pipes can be filled with a mixture of concrete and broken glass, or stone.

Every householder owes it to himself to see that his premises are kept as clean as possible. We cannot escape rats entirely, but they can be kept under control by the simple methods outlined above. Fumigation with sulphur dioxide and other chemicals is very effective in getting rid of rats.

 

Typhus

Typhus is another serious disease for which rats and other animals are responsible. It occurs in several different forms. Fleas, ticks, and lice carry the infections to human beings. Like plague, this disease has also changed the course of history on many occasions. Large armies were defeated, not so much by force of arms as by the ravages of typhus. The disease was once common in jails

Dangerous diseases are often spread by rats, mice, and other animals. Ticks, lice, and fleas (seen under the magnifying glass) transmit these diseases to man.

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