No Stuart Little: Peshawar’s ‘tail’ of giant rats
Locals, hospitals report a spike in bites; municipal service to look into blanket rat operation
PESHAWAR:
It sounds like the opening scene of a Frank Miller graphic novel. “It was dark in the alley. I could hear him shuffle. Crunch…snap.”
That was when teenager Ayaz accidentally stepped on a rat in Sethi Town during Eidul Azha holidays. The wound on his ankle bled profusely, and resulted in the 14-injection rabies course at a hospital.
Word around the city is there is a new breed of giant rats since the last few years, posing a new health risk. Locals say the usual smaller grey rodents have been wiped out by a more aggressive, larger species which is not too shy to take a swipe at humans.
Azhar Elahi had to rush his two-year-old nephew to the hospital on one dark night with a rat bite. The child had been sleeping when he was bitten. “He suddenly started crying and that’s when we saw he was bleeding from his ear,” said Elahi. “We rushed him to hospital where doctors identified it is as a rat bite.”
The stories come from different areas but all end with a slightly sinister tale of a bloody ankle, limb or other body part.
Bashir Ahmad from Dhaki Nalbandi near Qissa Khwani was trying to chase one of these creatures out of a cupboard when it boldly chomped down on his thumb. “I took it lightly; I thought it would be like a bee sting but a few days later my thumb turned blue.” Ahmad was also rushed to the hospital where he was vaccinated against rabies.
Dr Imran from the emergency unit at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) confirms an increase in intake of patients with rat bites who need post-exposure rabies vaccination.
“It’s a new one, rat bites. A number of patients are coming in to LRH with this problem,” said Imran.
“While we do provide rabies shots for free, patients will need to start buying them when we run short.” However, he worried, most people are not even aware of the health risks a rat bite poses. “Without proper treatment, a person with a bite can get many diseases.”
The doctor emphasised on the need for creating awareness about the consequences of rat bites and the diseases spread through rat droppings and food contaminated by the vermin.
Rats might be considered holy in some temples in northwestern India or make for cute animated movie characters, but are these Peshawar
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2014.
It sounds like the opening scene of a Frank Miller graphic novel. “It was dark in the alley. I could hear him shuffle. Crunch…snap.”
That was when teenager Ayaz accidentally stepped on a rat in Sethi Town during Eidul Azha holidays. The wound on his ankle bled profusely, and resulted in the 14-injection rabies course at a hospital.
Word around the city is there is a new breed of giant rats since the last few years, posing a new health risk. Locals say the usual smaller grey rodents have been wiped out by a more aggressive, larger species which is not too shy to take a swipe at humans.
Azhar Elahi had to rush his two-year-old nephew to the hospital on one dark night with a rat bite. The child had been sleeping when he was bitten. “He suddenly started crying and that’s when we saw he was bleeding from his ear,” said Elahi. “We rushed him to hospital where doctors identified it is as a rat bite.”
The stories come from different areas but all end with a slightly sinister tale of a bloody ankle, limb or other body part.
Bashir Ahmad from Dhaki Nalbandi near Qissa Khwani was trying to chase one of these creatures out of a cupboard when it boldly chomped down on his thumb. “I took it lightly; I thought it would be like a bee sting but a few days later my thumb turned blue.” Ahmad was also rushed to the hospital where he was vaccinated against rabies.
Dr Imran from the emergency unit at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) confirms an increase in intake of patients with rat bites who need post-exposure rabies vaccination.
“It’s a new one, rat bites. A number of patients are coming in to LRH with this problem,” said Imran.
“While we do provide rabies shots for free, patients will need to start buying them when we run short.” However, he worried, most people are not even aware of the health risks a rat bite poses. “Without proper treatment, a person with a bite can get many diseases.”
The doctor emphasised on the need for creating awareness about the consequences of rat bites and the diseases spread through rat droppings and food contaminated by the vermin.
Rats might be considered holy in some temples in northwestern India or make for cute animated movie characters, but are these Peshawar
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2014.