Common rodent vectors include rats and mice. Rats spread diseases like plague and typhus to humans via their infected external parasites. They also spread diseases directly to humans by contaminating food and drinking water with their faeces and urine.
Habits of Rats
Rats prefer to live close to food and shelter. They are omnivorous, eating many types of food. They are nocturnal animals.
Rats nest in rubbish dumps, among vegetation and wood plies. Inside houses, they nest in spaces between wall, underneath the floor in the roof. Rats and mice also make nests in holes made in the soil or ground.
Control of rats
Environment control aims at destroying their nesting placed and preventing them from getting food. This is usually done by
• storing all food, whether for humans or animals, properly so that rats cannot get at them (rat proof grain stores can be built to prevent rats from getting into them);
• keeping refuse, especially food wastes, in covered bins for subsequent disposal;
• keeping the house clean and uncluttered; and
• clearing all rubbish dumps and Bush in the area around the house.
Chemical control involved the use of rat poisons. The poison is mixed with the food that is used as bait. Food is also used as bait in rat traps. Cats, the natural predators of rats, may also be used to catch rats.
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