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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
(4) Mr. Daniel To Boo-Man moved:-
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*Since rats cause many environmental hygiene problems, damage domestic and public facilities, and spread infectious diseases (such as the recent hantavirus), hence threatening citizens' health, RESOLVED that the Council urge the Urban Services Department, together with the Department of Health, to adopt proactive and effective methods of rats disinfestation and prevention, so as to safeguard citizens' health and environmental hygiene.'
He said (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman, although the two municipal services departments carried out large-scaled rats disinfestation in February and March this year, rats are still rampant. According to the information of the Department of Health, there were four cases of hantavirus with rat faeces as the carrier in the last month alone, which can be said to be rare in the past decades. It has resulted in a drastic increase in the number of hantavirus cases to six in less than half a year, which far exceeds that of the entire year last year.
After a rat is infected with hantavirus, the virus stays in its faeces and urine and is spread by air. When a person passes a place with the virus, he is prone to be infected with it. The symptoms include fever, headache, poor appetite, vomiting etc. In more serious cases, the patient will suffer from low blood platelet leading to subcutaneous bleeding. In the most serious cases, it will result in shock and even death.
Last year, when the Chief Executive visited the Shamshuipo district, a big rat was seen in the street in broad daylight. He immediately reflected his dissatisfaction to the relevant departments. After being notified, the two municipal services departments took follow-up actions right away. This is only one of the cases which cast doubt on the effectiveness of the rodent control. Two types of pesticides have been used by the USD for years. Rats that have taken them either hide themselves away and dry up, or run wild and die in the open areas. These are traditional ways to kill rats. No studies of other ways to exterminate them have been carried out officially while households have come up with new ways, such as rat glue of the earlier days and ultrasound expeller, as well as various products that have not yet been introduced into Hong Kong.
As far as rodent prevention is concerned, it is often said that as long as we keep the environment clean, cover the food, and install metal covers over channel inlets, then we will be left in peace. Having said that, I must quote a case which I handled personally. A model family with a clean environment, which had taken all the above preventive measures, should be free from the problem. One day, to their great astonishment, a bright-eyed and drenched big sewer rat came out of the toilet bowl, surveyed the surroundings and then returned to the sewer through the toilet bowl leisurely. After that, it revisited the place every now and then, creating a disturbance. Isn't it simply horrible?
Page 69 of 606
Page 69 of 606