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Every Year 100 Of Us Get Bitten By Rats
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 8, 2011
Modified Aug 8, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 8, 2011
Modified Aug 8, 2011
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Last year we were none-too-thrilled to discover something called Rat Bite Fever exists, but took comfort in our own assumptions that people rarely get bitten by rats. But now Metro comes along and says 100 New Yorkers get bitten by rats each year, and that's just what's being reported to the Department of Health! It gets worse...
Some of the horror stories include rats coming through shower tiles, rats climbing into cribs to chew on baby toes, and rats getting into a parrot's cage and eating the parrot. Plus, those suckers can access just about any apartment that has a toilet. The ratdemic is upon us, people! No one is safe.
One exterminator says, “They’re just attracted to the food, and gnaw on a human by accident, for the most part." Which isn't really all that consoling. On the upside, while there have been incidents of rat bite fever and leptospirosis in New York, we've yet to encounter a rat carrying plague!
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rat bite fever
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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