RATS festering in rubbish left on the streets of Birmingham could turn deadly as temperatures rise, experts have warned.
Industrial action by refuse workers – who are unhappy about pay and job cuts – has seen mountains of uncollected waste piling up across the city.
Locals have reported “rats the size of cats” scavenging through the bin bags.
And warm and dry weather is expected to continue across the country for the whole of this week.
Friday saw 23.7°C recorded in Otterbourne, Hampshire, the hottest day of the year so far – while England also saw its sunniest March on record.
Now infectious disease expert Dr Elizabeth Sheridan has said the rats could bread faster due to the heat.
This could potentially increase the spread of Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease).
Leptospirosis is spread in the pee of infected animals, most commonly rats, mice, cows, pigs and dogs.
She told The Telegraph: “Most people don’t know if they have been exposed to rat urine.
“You are at risk if you handle things that rats have been running over and that gets into your system.
“For example, if you were handling bin bags and it got into your eyes or you put your hands in your mouth.”
Dr Sheridan said that the disease can prove fatal in certain cases.
In England, from 2020 to 2023 there were on average 57 laboratory-confirmed cases and 89 probable cases annually.
Sutton Coldfield firm Hullternative Pest Control said rodent numbers are booming because of overflowing wheelie bins and missed rounds.
The company said it has seen a 70 to 80 per cent increase in calls and has tripled its orders for rat poison since the strikes began on March 11.
Service manager Martin Hull described the piles of rubbish as a “buffet on tap” for the pests.
Symptoms of leptospirosis
Most people who get leptospirosis have no symptoms, or mild flu-like symptoms. But some people get seriously ill.
Symptoms of leptospirosis may include:
- high temperature
- headache
- body aches and pain
- tummy ache
- feeling sick or being sick
- diarrhoea
- redness in the white part of your eyes
- yellowing of the skin (which may be harder to see on black or brown skin) or white part of the eyes (jaundice)
He told BirminghamLive: “The rats are bigger and a lot braver…If we try to put poison down, it will not work because there’s too much food.”
Brummies say the row has left neighbourhoods looking like “war zones”.
Dad-of-two Emil Laursen, 34, said: “We are fast transforming into a third world city… This whole situation is a mess, quite literally”
Mazar Dad, 56, a former manager at a waste depot, fears it will take “months and months” to shift the rubbish.
Birmingham City Council declared a major incident over the risks to public health and environmental damage caused by the strikes by Unite union members last Monday.
They said actions on the picket line have blocked contingency vehicles from getting out.
Council leader John Cotton said: “I respect the right to strike and protest, however actions on the picket line must be lawful and sadly the behaviour of some now means we are seeing a significant impact on residents and the city’s environment.
“Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service’s contingency plan, then we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections.”
Vermin the size of ‘small cats’ were seen scurrying around the streets[/caption]
City residents claim they can smell the stench while walking down the street[/caption]
