The Surge in Rats Raises Alarms in Kuwait

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 22: Two academics have sounded the alarm about the spread of rats, which transmit diseases that may be difficult to diagnose in public clinics, in parallel with growing complaints about their increasing numbers in various areas of Kuwait, and demands for the necessity of developing a more rapid response to complaints from residents and citizens to put an end to this menace.

Professor of Biology, Head of the Science Department at the College of Basic Education, Dr. Qais Majeed, warned the spread of rats could cause multiple diseases, explaining that “one of the most important dangers of the spread of rats is that they are found in food stores.”

He pointed out, in a statement to Al-Rai, that “the solid and liquid wastes these mice transmit diseases to foodstuffs, which in turn transmit them to humans.”

He explained that “in addition to being dangerous to human life, “these mice carry types of worms that cause diseases in poultry, cows, and livestock.”

At a time when Majeed stressed that “the spread of mice in excess of their normal numbers is at the expense of the rest of living organisms,” he pointed out that “this spread is accompanied by a decrease in the number of insects and reptiles that mice feed on.”

He considered that “the spread of mice has reached the point of phenomenon, as any house that has a garden catches one or two mice every day,” adding, “This happens in my house in one of the interior areas, and I tried to alert the concerned authorities, but to no avail, and added after some a person was sent to set traps.

In the same context, Dr. Sabah Al-Terkait, a professor at the College of Health Sciences, told Al-Rai that “the spread of rats and rodents is one of the biggest problems in residential areas and industrial cities,” pointing out that “last August there was a sudden warning about the increase in the spread of rats in a number of American and European cities, without a clear reason for this sudden increase.

Al-Terkait warned that “rats cause and transmit serious bacterial diseases, the most important of which is the Weil’s disease, which is difficult to diagnose by medical staff in public clinics.”

Al-Terkait considered that, “In Kuwait, there is no effective system to monitor the increase in the number of rats, but since Kuwait is a close-knit society, any increase in the spread of the number of rats will be noticed quickly,” pointing out that “rats multiply in places of waste, construction, and densely populated cities, and sewage drains.”

He stressed that “citizens must monitor their places of residence, especially places where food is stored, while placing mouse traps if possible, and the necessity of disposing of waste on a daily basis.”

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