Precautions put in place to slow the rise of coronavirus cases in New Orleans has inadvertently led to a rat problem for the Louisiana city, CBS News reports. With restaurants closed save for take-out service, far less food waste is being discarded in the city's alleyways, driving the local rodent population out into the open to search for scraps.
To control the population, city crews started putting bait in the gutters and placing rat traps throughout the French Quarter neighborhood, CBS News reports.
In a press conference, Claudi Riegel, Director of the City of New Orleans Mosquito, Termite, and Rodent Control Board, expressed concern about the possible infections the rat infestation could spread to the local homeless population. "There are pathogens in these rodents. Fortunately, we don't see many of the health outcomes. We don't have very many disease cases that are actually related to rodents. But the potential is there," she said.
Source: CBS News
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