Rat-borne diseases cause crisis in Sarajevo
Kyiv • UNN
The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, has been flooded by rats, leading to an increase in morbidity. Local authorities have declared an epidemic and are taking measures to combat pests.
The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo - is filled with rats, and the increase in the number of related diseases is causing a crisis, reports the BBC, writes UNN.
Details
Social media posts by residents of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina showed a large number of rodents swimming in the Miljacka River, which flows through the city center.
Residents of Sarajevo, who have long been accustomed to poor public services, have also posted photos of overflowing garbage containers and illegal landfills, as well as complaints that the authorities are not removing dead animals from public areas, including children's playgrounds.
All this creates a wonderful environment for rats to thrive. However, for people, the picture looks less rosy.
Health experts believe that the failure to control the rodent population in Sarajevo is the reason for the alarming increase in the number of cases of rat-borne diseases.
In just one day this week, the country's largest hospital reported a dozen cases of leptospirosis. This follows a steady stream of other infections earlier in the month.
One of the names of the disease, rat fever, reflects its main vector of infection. It is usually spread to humans through water or soil contaminated with rodent urine or feces. Symptoms can vary from headache and muscle pain to bleeding in the lungs. An acute form of the disease, Weil's disease, can cause jaundice and even kidney failure.
Local authorities in Sarajevo have declared an epidemic, which allows for the introduction of emergency measures, including a long-overdue cleanup. However, so far none of the registered cases during the current epidemic have been serious.
Additional municipal workers armed with disinfectant sprays have been dispatched to conduct a city-wide "spring cleaning" in public places throughout the city, while additional garbage collections are being organized. Schools have been instructed to clean up their playgrounds, mow all grass areas and check basements for rats.
The current approach of comprehensive action is in stark contrast to the situation of non-intervention of the last two years, during which no pest control measures were taken in Sarajevo at all. Officials blame the failure to tender for extermination and sanitation works.
The Minister of Health of the Sarajevo Canton, Enis Hasanović, described the situation as "not a health crisis, but a communal crisis" due to the failure of local authorities to meet basic municipal hygiene requirements.
But the former director of the University Clinical Center of Sarajevo, Sebija Izetbegović, believes that the health situation could get even worse. Now, as a member of the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton, she notes that there are so many "fat rats" in the city that "we can also expect hantavirus."