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Rare disease carried by rats leaves 1 dead, 2 clinging to life in New York City

February 15, 2022 Posted By Health

A rare bacterial disease linked to rats — and normally only seen in animals — has killed one person in The Bronx and left two others fighting for their lives, city officials reported Tuesday.

The three cases of leptospirosis were identified in a one block radius of the Concourse section of the Bronx over the past two months, the Health Department said.

“Human leptospirosis cases are very rare in New York City,” explained Demetre Daskalakis, acting deputy commissioner of the Health Department.

ratskill_small Rare disease carried by rats leaves 1 dead, 2 clinging to life in New York City Health

“This is the first time a cluster of cases has been identified,” he said. “All three cases had severe illness and were hospitalized with acute renal [kidney]and hepatic [liver] failure. Two cases developed pulmonary hemorrhage and one died as a result of infection.”

The remaining two patients recovered and were discharged, Daskalakis added.

“The Health Department is working with building owners in the affected area to remediate rodent infestations,” he said.

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  • DrArtaud

    Rats, yuch. We had them coming into the house. In cold weather, I understand they come inside looking for water. We first noticed that the dog’s inside water had dirt in it. We’d just empty it, clean it, and put it back. Next day more dirt in the water. We’d clean it again, more dirt the next day. Come to find out, the darn things were coming in from outside, (our 100+ year old house had, years ago, a dirt basement with outside access, we suspect a vulnerability in the area where that was filled). The dog food/water is near the sink and when we looked under the sink, we saw that the plumbing trap; with a silicon connector used with stainless clamps; had been eaten mostly away. We placed rat poison in obscure areas, away from the dog, and our problem rapidly went away.

    If you feed birds, the seeds on the ground may attract rats. Dog feces not cleaned up frequently the same thing. Our neighborhood, troubled as it is, is not known for rats, we we’re quite surprised. Years ago, my sister’s son contracted the bubonic plague, something that crops up in perhaps a couple of dozen cases a year. My sister, a nurse, failed to correlate the symptoms to the disease. But her son cut grass for a doctor that lived near them. When he asked why his usual lawn cutting day was missed, she explained her son was sick. The doctor decided to visit her son and diagnosed and treated him before it had progressed.

    http://fox6now.com/2015/09/14/bubonic-plague-reported-in-michigan-14-cases-reported-nationwide/

    Pet Rats, Mice, Hamsters, Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, etc. are fine, but wild rodents, such as rats and mice, can be carriers of various diseases. Strangely enough, they are seldom the vector for rabies. Go figure.

    Small rodents like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs including rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.