When it comes to the most prosperous city in the world, New York in the United States is definitely the first choice in the hearts of many people. However, you may not imagine that this global financial center has been plagued by rats for many years, and now even because of rat urine, it has triggered a new wave of epidemics, which are raging with new crown pneumonia.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > rat-infested metropolis</h1>
You may not believe it, but in the city of New York, there are more rats than people (about 8.62 million). Of course, this number is still controversial, a few people say that the number of New York rats is about 2 million, and more people even say that the number of New York rats has reached 70 million. In New York, rats are rampant, sometimes running down the street. Locals have come up with all sorts of ways to solve the rat infestation, and have even trained dogs to catch rats – and it's not a hassle anymore.
The harm caused by rats to humans is already obvious to all, in addition to making many people look disgusted and even scared, they can also destroy public goods and spread diseases. In history, one of the most terrifying infectious diseases, the Black Death, one of its sources of infection was rats, and it has killed more than 50 million humans in history.
(Caption: Rats ravaging new York)
As the most prosperous city in the world, it is really incomprehensible that it is plagued by rats. What's even more incomprehensible is that over time, Instead of controlling the number of rats, New York has been plagued by more rats this year — two possibilities, perhaps because the number of rats has really increased, or maybe because of the covid-19 epidemic-induced stay-at-home orders that have made rats more active. In short, this situation has brought another major problem to New Yorkers - a new infectious disease.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > leptospirosis</h1>
The name of this infectious disease is leptospirosis, which is a natural epidemic disease and is caused by various types of pathogenic leptospirosis (referred to as hooks). It can be transmitted through rodents and pigs, or through animals such as cattle or dogs, especially through rat urine, so it is also called "rat urine disease".
(Caption: Leptospirus under the microscope)
The incubation period of leptospirosis is 2 to 20 days, and the onset of the disease is manifested by fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms. A small number of people will not show symptoms, but 10% of patients will have more serious symptoms, such as kidney failure, liver damage, and difficulty breathing. Although the disease can be treated with antibiotics, there are occasional cases of death.
Right now, the disease plagues the citizens of New York City. As of September, New York City had reported 14 cases of infection and another in October. Most of these cases were hospitalized for kidney and liver failure, two more had severe lung problems, and even one more had died.
The findings, as epidemiologists had imagined, were mostly infected with the terrible disease by being active in a rat-infested environment, and one case was contracted during travel. There is no doubt that this epidemic of leptospirosis is closely related to the abnormal activities of mice.
(Photo caption: Skin of patients with leptospirosis)
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > leptospirosis in the United States</h1>
It doesn't take you to know that new York, where rats are so rampant, is certainly not the first time that leptospirosis has spread. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 57 cases of leptospirosis were reported in New York City between 2006 and 2020. 57 cases in 15 years, equivalent to less than 4 cases per year. Today, there have been 15 cases in less than 1 year, which shows that this new epidemic is still very alarming.
New York is not the only city where rats have been more severe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents of other large U.S. cities such as Washington, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, and other places have shown that rats are more likely to be seen during the pandemic.
(Photo caption: A cosmopolitan city like New York is plagued by rats)
Rodent robert Corrigan said in an interview with the BBC that rats are indeed abnormal during the day, which is inseparable from the epidemic.
When people in cities are traveling less because of the pandemic, less trash is being thrown into the streets. Rats that have lost their source of food and have to "work overtime" during the day to come out to forage for food or relocate their families to other areas are more likely to be seen. What's more, there have been people who have seen rats kill each other hungry and eat their own kind to fill their hunger.
Humans have epidemics, but rats have been driven crazy...
On the other hand, the rampant rats have also led to the increasing appearance of rat urine in the range of human activities, which has led to the easier transmission of diseases such as leptospirosis.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > global leptospirosis</h1>
Speaking of which, leptospirosis in the United States is still relatively rare. From the perspective of the whole world, Southeast Asia is the most seriously affected by this disease, and most of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China also have the spread of leptospirosis.
Since 1955, when leptospirosis was listed as a notifiable infectious disease, there have been a total of 10 relatively large epidemics of leptospirosis in China. So far, more than 2.5 million patients with leptospirosis have been reported in China, and the number of deaths has reached 27,000, which shows the great harm. However, since 1993, the reported leptospirosis in China has shown a downward trend, with an average of less than 1000 cases per year.
(Photo caption: Leptospirosis is endemic worldwide)
Globally, however, the dangers of leptospirosis are increasing. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 1 million cases of leptospirosis worldwide each year, and the number of deaths is almost 59,000, which is staggering in both infection numbers and mortality rates.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" > how to prevent it</h1>
So, how do we usually prevent this disease?
At present, the health department of New York City has advised local residents to avoid contact with rats and avoid contact with places where rats have been peed. In addition, the area where the rat has been active should be cleaned up in time, pay attention to wearing rubber gloves when cleaning, and wash your hands in time.
In China, field work is a major way to infect leptospirosis, and we need to strengthen the understanding and prevention awareness of leptospirosis. In addition, some water bodies that may be contaminated by rats are also at risk of spreading leptospirosis, so remember not to enter unfamiliar water bodies. Especially in the flood disasters that have occurred many times this year, we must also pay attention to avoiding the epidemic of various infectious diseases.