SANTA FE.- Los Amores has been facing a real rat invasion a product, it is estimated, of the intense rains that flooded their settlements in the last week. “At the (district) school, classes were suspended for one day for cleaning because It was crazy how many rats there were.“, the mother of a student pointed out the situation.
The situation broke out in that town located in the north of Santa Fe, belonging to the Vera department, close to the border with Chaco, and 311 kilometers north of this capital.
Another neighbor, meanwhile, said: “They started going out the first day it rained a lot, but it is impressive what the locals face every day. On top of that, they urinate on you everywhere. “It’s something horrible.”
Other residents consulted by this newspaper agreed in explaining that “what Los Amores is experiencing is impressive.” “It is believed that it is because the fields and canals overflowed with the intense rains.. It is impressive what we observe in recent nights when they appear in quantities inside the houses. “I assure you that there are between 20 and 30 rats per night that we are killing or scaring away,” she assured.
For its part, the communal president of Los Amores, Omar Walker, admitted that this situation is caused by “the rains that recently reached 430 millimeters in one week.” “So that everyone can have an idea of what is happening, to the west, up to the border with Santiago del Estero, 600 millimeters fell,” he indicated.
In turn, Marcelo Matos, director of School 6046 “Juana Azurduy,” described the nauseating smell caused by the urine and excrement of the rats as “unbearable.” The school director indicated that he communicated to the Ministry of Education of the province about the situation they are going through and It had been decided to suspend classes “to guarantee hygiene and carry out adequate deratization.””.
To graph the panorama, you can repeat what the local residents say: “Every day rat droppings are found in various places, even on computer keyboards”.
Furthermore, neighbors report that this situation “is unprecedented” and has been going on for approximately a week and a half. “Rats are appearing everywhere and its presence does not diminish. The strange thing is that many times there were heavy rains like last week. However, We have never had a presence of rats like now.”, they agreed to highlight.
“The number of rats in all homes, but also in commercial premises, is impressive. I would say that they are everywhere, that they have invaded us“said a merchant who this Saturday afternoon was dedicated to checking the premises’ pipes to remove the dead animals.
Alert
In addition to the invasion of rodents, the residents of Los Amores pointed out that in the rural area the accumulation of water as a result of the intense rains is still observed. Consequently, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent the scenario described above from triggering a health crisis.
In this regard, it must be remembered that These rodents can cause outbreaks of harmful diseases, such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, plague, and typhus.. The best way to protect yourself is to keep rodents out of your home.
“Many of us believed that this could be something temporarybut the days went by and, although this weekend there are fewer, the mousefish continue in the town, mainly in the southern and central sectors,” Walker added.
The official mentioned that the province’s Ministry of Health is carrying out tasks to prevent the spread of the situation, while chlorine is distributed for cleaning and disinfection.
recommendations
Given this situation, the province’s Ministry of Health issued recommendations:
- Avoid contact with stagnant water, use appropriate protective measures when working in risk areas: boots and gloves and keep yards and gardens clean.
- Weeding vacant landcover the holes in the home where rodents can enter, eliminate garbage and debris, condition them so that they do not become a refuge for rodents and place the garbage in containers with tight-fitting lids.
If you experience symptoms, you should quickly consult the nearest health center or hospital, where the doctor, after an examination, will request laboratory tests to confirm or rule out the diagnosis. “This disease has treatment and it is done with antibiotics,” stressed the Santa Fe Health Ministry.