Chennaites beware of disease outbreak
Posted on: 07/May/2014 9:39:06 AM
Chennai has serious problems because of increased number of rats. With poor hygiene, improper garbage disposal and lack of a proper pest control system allowing rats to breed in large numbers.
The Chennai corporation’s health department killed 1,523 rats in Anna Nagar, 1,282 in Teynampet and 1,168 in Alandur in 2013, according to statistics sourced through an RTI application from the civic body. The corporation is killing more rats each year, from 537 in 2008 to 9,116 in 2012 and 11,266 in 2013, but experts reckon that the number of rodents exterminated account for a small fraction of the city’s actual rat population.
The fact that the civic body killed more rats in Anna Nagar than any other zone does not mean it is more infested with rats than other zones. What is worrying, health experts say is that the corporation has not conducted any study that would allow it to identify localities in which there has been a serious proliferation of rodents.
The vermin eat foodgrain, gnaw at electrical circuits and even damage buildings. But evidence of the biggest threat they pose is too small for the human eye to see — plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis, carried by rat fleas, and leptospira, which is transmitted by rat urine and causes leptospirosis. In its worst form, leptospirosis results in acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. But, as with other infectious diseases, the corporation is in denial about leptospirosis Experts say the corporation should consider the mass extermination of rats like municipal authorities in Surat did following the 1992 plague outbreak, which left 52 people dead and resulted in close to three lakh people fleeing that city.
