Editing Rat (section)

==As pests==
{{anchor|Rats as pests}}
[[File:Rodent Bait Station, Chennai, India.jpg|thumb|Rodent Bait Station, [[Chennai]], India]]
Rats have long been considered deadly pests. Once considered a modern myth, the [[mautam|rat flood]] in India occurs every fifty years, as armies of [[bamboo rat]]s descend upon rural areas and devour everything in their path.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://io9.com/5694107/massive-plagues-of-rats-swarm-across-india-every-fifty-years |title=Massive plagues of rats swarm across India every fifty years |work=io9 |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=Io9.com |access-date=2013-03-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521030122/http://io9.com/5694107/massive-plagues-of-rats-swarm-across-india-every-fifty-years |archive-date=2013-05-21 |last1=Wilkins |first1=Alasdair }}</ref> Rats have long been held up as the chief villain in the spread of the [[Bubonic Plague]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unc.edu/~omlor/index_files/Page393.html |title=The Black Plague |publisher=University of North Carolina |access-date=2013-03-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301121307/http://www.unc.edu/~omlor/index_files/Page393.html |archive-date=2013-03-01 }}</ref> however, recent studies show that rats alone could not account for the rapid spread of the disease through Europe in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Maev Kennedy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/17/black-death-rats-off-hook |title=Black Death study lets rats off the hook |work=The Guardian |access-date=2013-03-15 |location=London |date=2011-08-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827191239/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/17/black-death-rats-off-hook |archive-date=2013-08-27 }}</ref> Still, the [[Centers for Disease Control]] does list nearly a dozen diseases<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html |title=CDC – Diseases directly transmitted by rodents – Rodents |publisher=Centers for Disease Control |date=2011-06-07 |access-date=2013-03-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317033523/http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html |archive-date=2013-03-17 }}</ref> directly linked to rats.

Most urban areas battle rat infestations. A 2015 study by the [[American Housing Survey]] (AHS) found that eighteen percent of homes in Philadelphia showed evidence of rodents. [[Boston]], [[New York City]], and [[Washington, D.C.]], also demonstrated significant rodent infestations.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clark |first=Patrick |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-america-roach-rats-infected-cities/ |title=The Most Vermin-Infested American Cities |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2017-01-17 |access-date=2017-01-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118002206/https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-america-roach-rats-infected-cities/ |archive-date=2017-01-18 }}</ref> Indeed, [[rats in New York City]] are famous for their size and prevalence. The urban legend that the rat population in [[Manhattan]] equals that of its human population was definitively refuted by Robert Sullivan in his book ''Rats'' but illustrates New Yorkers' awareness of the presence, and on occasion boldness and cleverness, of the rodents.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n06/sean-wilsey/some-of-them-can-read |title=Sean Wilsey reviews 'Rats' by Robert Sullivan · LRB 17 March 2005 |pages=9–10 |publisher=Lrb.co.uk |access-date=2013-03-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209160722/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n06/sean-wilsey/some-of-them-can-read |archive-date=9 February 2013 |newspaper=London Review of Books |date=2005-03-17 |last1=Wilsey |first1=Sean}}</ref> New York has specific regulations for eradicating rats; multifamily residences and commercial businesses must use a specially trained and licensed [[rat catcher]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8532.html |title=Questions and Answers Regarding New York State Pest Management Program |publisher=DOEC of NY State |access-date=2014-11-24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217185555/http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8532.html |archive-date=2014-12-17 }}</ref>

Chicago was declared the "rattiest city" in the US by the pest control company [[Orkin]] in 2020, for the sixth consecutive time. It's followed by [[Los Angeles]], New York, Washington, D.C., and [[San Francisco]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rats! Chicago Tops Orkin's Rattiest Cities List for Sixth Consecutive Time |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rats-chicago-tops-orkins-rattiest-cities-list-for-sixth-consecutive-time-301150702.html |website=PR Newswire |access-date=16 May 2021 |date=13 Oct 2020}}</ref> To help combat the problem, a Chicago animal shelter has placed more than 1000 feral cats (sterilized and vaccinated) outside of homes and businesses since 2012, where they hunt and catch rats while also providing a deterrent simply by their presence.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Guzman |first1=Joseph |title=1,000 feral cats released onto Chicago streets to tackle rat explosion |url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/552911-1000-feral-cats-released-onto-chicago-streets-to |access-date=16 May 2021 |work=The Hill |date=11 May 2021}}</ref>

Rats have the ability to swim up sewer pipes into toilets.<ref>{{cite web|title=How to keep the rats from coming up through your toilet|url=http://mynorthwest.com/11/2625820/How-to-keep-the-rats-from-coming-up-through-your-toilet|access-date=2015-08-23|first=Stephanie|last=Klein|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901113140/http://mynorthwest.com/11/2625820/How-to-keep-the-rats-from-coming-up-through-your-toilet|archive-date=2015-09-01|date=2014-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=See How Easily a Rat Can Wriggle Up Your Toilet|url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/150811-rats-toilet-swimming-vin|website=video.nationalgeographic.com|access-date=2015-08-23|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821025708/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/150811-rats-toilet-swimming-vin|archive-date=2015-08-21}}</ref> Rats will infest any area that provides shelter and easy access to sources of food and water, including under sinks, near garbage, and inside walls or cabinets.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.epa.gov/rodenticides/identify-and-prevent-rodent-infestations | title=Identify and Prevent Rodent Infestations | website =epa.gov | date=2013-10-31 | publisher =United States Environmental Protection Agency | access-date =2019-12-05}}</ref>

===In the spread of disease===
{{anchor|Medicine}}
[[File:He Spreads Disease Art.IWMPST14211.jpg|thumb|World War II-era poster warning about rats as a disease vector and pest]]
Rats can serve as [[zoonotic]] vectors for certain pathogens and thus spread disease, such as [[bubonic plague]], [[Lassa fever]], [[leptospirosis]], and [[hantavirus]] infection.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.leptospirosis.org/other-diseases|title=Information on other rodent-related diseases – Leptospirosis Information|newspaper=Leptospirosis Information|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-31|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031152822/http://www.leptospirosis.org/other-diseases|archive-date=2016-10-31}}</ref> Researchers studying [[New York City]] wastewater have also cited rats as the potential source of "cryptic" [[Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2|SARS-CoV-2]] lineages, due to unknown viral RNA fragments in sewage matching mutations previously shown to make SARS-CoV-2 more adept at rodent-based transmission.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mench |first1=Chris |title=New York City's Rats Could Have Their Own Strain of COVID-19 |url=https://www.thrillist.com/news/new-york/nyc-rats-developed-their-own-covid-strain |access-date=8 February 2022 |publisher=Thrillist |date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205154749/https://www.thrillist.com/news/new-york/nyc-rats-developed-their-own-covid-strain |archive-date=5 February 2022}}</ref>

Rats are also associated with human [[dermatitis]] because they are frequently infested with blood feeding rodent mites such as the tropical rat mite (''[[Ornithonyssus bacoti]]'') and spiny rat mite (''Laelaps echidnina''), which will opportunistically bite and feed on humans,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=J. |title=New Building, Old Parasite: Mesostigmatid Mites--An Ever-Present Threat to Barrier Rodent Facilities |journal=ILAR Journal |date=2008 |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=303–309 |doi=10.1093/ilar.49.3.303 |pmid=18506063 |pmc=7108606 }}</ref> where the condition is known as [[rat mite dermatitis]]''.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Engel|first1=Peter M.|last2=Welzel|first2=J.|last3=Maass|first3=M.|last4=Schramm|first4=U.|last5=Wolff|first5=H. H.|date=1998|title=Tropical Rat Mite Dermatitis: Case Report and Review|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|language=en|volume=27|issue=6|pages=1465–1469|doi=10.1086/515016|pmid=9868661 |doi-access=free}}</ref>