CDC: As restaurants reopen, scavenging rodents could become aggressive

The CDC has recently issued guidance as it says some communities could have rodents aggressively trying to find new sources of food due to coronavirus-related restaurant closures.

As restaurants closed nationwide, the supply of food for some rodents was cut off, especially in dense, commercial areas. With life returning to normal, these rodents could be acting aggressively in order to find food.

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

The CDC said that it is not uncommon after disasters such as hurricanes to see a decline in rodent population, following by an increase when life returns back to normal.

The CDC said that residents and businesses should eliminate conditions that may attract and support rodent presence. The CDC recommends 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.

According to the CDC, rodents are capable of spreading up to 35 different infectious diseases. These diseases can be spread directly to humans by rodent feces, urine, or saliva, or through rodent bites, or indirectly through ticks, mites or fleas that have fed on an infected rodent.