Orkin, the pest control company, has made its list of “Rattiest in the Nation.”
Several California cities had the dubious honor of being placed on this list….including my hometown of San Diego.
When you think of rat-infested cities, dense metropolitan areas on the East Coast might first come to mind. However, according to pest control giant Orkin, Los Angeles also has a serious problem with the troublesome rodents.Orkin has released its annual list of America’s “Rattiest” cities, and the City of Angeles landed in the number two spot, climbing one notch year-over-year.Chicago was number one for the ninth consecutive year. San Fransisco was No. 5, San Diego was No. 28 and Sacramento was 33rd.The rankings, Orkin says, are not based on the number of rats in the city or any official count (as if that were possible), but instead are drawn from “the number of new rodent services” – meaning how often they’re called to deal with rat infestation.
It turns out the explosion of rats along the West Coast is another consequence of COVID-19 pandemic policies.
If your city is experiencing a large number of rat problems – you’re not alone. In fact, cities all over California are experiencing a significant increase in rat infestations as a result of two years of lockdowns during COVID.The reason? Rats that traditionally found food sources in restaurant dumpsters have had to seek food elsewhere driving them further into housing developments, residential areas and the suburbs. The problem has gotten so bad RatsOfCalifornia.com has launched to highlight the problem by allowing residents to share videos of rats in strange places throughout California.“As pest control operators we’ve seen the impacts of COVID-19 compound California’s rat problem, pushing vermin to suburban areas and threatening the health and safety of our communities,” said Dean Wiley, President of Pest Control Operators of California. “Now more than ever we need access to requisite rodent-fighting materials used to protect homes and families across the state.”
Rat infestation presents a significant human health problem. We have covered the typhus crisis in Los Angeles in 2019.
It turns out that a parasite, rat lungworm, is spreading throughout the southeastern US.
The parasitic worm was once typically found in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Recently, it has been identified in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
In a study published recently in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers from Texas A&M, Zoo Atlanta and Mississippi State University have warned that the microscopic rat lungworm, scientifically known as Angiostrongylus Cantonensis, now threatens a wide area of southeast US.As per US News, the parasite can trigger dangerous brain encephalitis in both humans and their pets.An analysis of tissue samples from 33 wild brown rats found dead on the grounds of a zoological facility in Atlanta from between 2019 and 2022, found that more than a fourth of the rodents appeared to have worm-like larvae in their tissues….Speaking to Newsweek, Nicole Gottdenker, a Professor of Pathology at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, warned that the worm can infect humans.”When the infective stage of the worm is accidentally ingested by a human, it can go to the brain or spinal cord and cause tremendous inflammation, leading to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, neck stiffness, headaches, sometimes arm and leg tingling,” said Gottdenker.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are no known treatments for rat lungworm infestations, only supportive care.
I suspect it is only a matter of time before rat lungworm shows up at one of the many homeless camps in California.
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