Rats carry MRSA and C.difficile

With Vancouver and the Lower Mainland plagued with a scourge of rats, new research from UBC suggests there may be grave consequences if the rodents’ risk to human health continues to be underestimated.

The UBC team studied the feces of rats caught at an Abbotsford poultry farm, and discovered that not only was every specimen carrying a strain of avian E.coli, more than a quarter of the vermin carried multi-drug resistant strains of the disease.

The study’s lead author, assistant professor Chelsea Himsworth, had already gathered evidence of human pathogens, including MRSA and C.difficile, in the feces of rats on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Read the full article on CBC.ca