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With the garbage collectors’ strike lasting for several days, the streets of Paris are littered with waste. A situation that makes certain pests, such as rats, happy. Can this cause a health risk?
The pension reform envisaged by the government has prompted the garbage collectors of the city of Paris to strike. Their movement has been going on for a week. Result: more than 5,600 tons of garbage accumulate in the streets of the city’s boroughs.
Little risk to humans
Apart from the unsightly side of the mountains of garbage cans and the unpleasant odor that can emerge from them, there is little risk for city dwellers. Rats will indeed multiply in the streets, due to the presence of this pantry for them, but they will not “attack” people, reassures Dr. Jean-Paul Hamon, on the set of BFM TV.
Respiratory risks for the most fragile
The strong odor of garbage cans can precisely come from fungi and bacteria that develop there. A factor that can aggravate certain respiratory pathologies, in the most fragile people. Wearing a mask can be a solution for those with problems of this type.
The Academy of Medicine had called for caution last summer
Finally, if there is little health risk because of rats, we must nevertheless remain cautious. The rodent can carry different diseases, such as leptospirosis, transmitted through their urine. Last summer theAcademy of Medicine pointed out in a report that “the rat remains a threat to human health because of the many zoonoses transmitted by its exoparasites, its droppings, its bites or its scratches“.