CDC warns of aggressive cannibal rats facing shortage of garbage to eat

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned of “unusual or aggressive” behavior in American rats as a consequence of more than two months of human lockdown for city-dwelling rodents who now find themselves unable to dine out on restaurant waste, street garbage and other food sources.

Last month, according to the national health body, dumpster-diving rats were observed resorting to eating their young in the wake of urban shutdowns.

“Community-wide closures have led to a decrease in food available to rodents, especially in dense commercial areas,” the CDC said in recently updated rodent-control guidelines.

“Some jurisdictions have reported an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food. Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to rodents and reports of unusual or aggressive rodent behavior.”

Elevated levels of rat aggression has been observed in New York, where there are increased reports of cannibalism and infanticide, and New Orleans, where unusual rat behavior was caught on CCTV.

“I turn the corner, there’s about 30 rats at the corner, feasting on something in the middle of the street,” Bourbon street tour guide Charles Marsala told CBS News.

Complaints in Chicago have included reports of infestations in housing blocks as rodents seek new sources of food.

Some rodent experts predicted increased urban rat aggression.

“Many of these rats in our cities depend on their nightly food, which is the restaurants and hotels and bars and doughnut shops and everything that we consume on the go,” rodentologist Bobby Corrigan told The Washington Post.

The overall rat-to-human ratio is notoriously hard to gauge. A 1949 study determined the ratio was 36 humans to one rat in New York. The estimate was increased to one to one in the 1950s, and then dropped again to four humans to one rat.

The CDC noted that rodent population upheavals are common during natural disasters.

“Preventive actions include sealing up access into homes and businesses, removing debris and heavy vegetation, keeping garbage in tightly covered bins, and removing pet and bird food from their yards,” the CDC said.