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City rat sightings, complaints are up
New York rats are Norway rats, though they are not from Norway, and they don’t have rabies, so Jay did not wake up the following morning with foam in her mouth. But their urine or feces can transmit seven-day fever or salmonella, two diseases that humans usually get when they work in close contact with rats, which is extremely rare in New York. In the worst case, symptoms are diarrhea, high fever or abdominal cramps. You will not get the plague either, which accounts for only 10 to 15 cases in rural areas in the U.S.
Ivan Couronne • January 8, 2009
