As Jazz pointed out last November, Mayor Adams has declared war on New York City’s rat population more than once in his relatively short time in office. The pandemic was a boom time for rat populations as outdoor eating became the norm. In January, NBC New York reported that rat sightings doubled between 2021 and 2022.

Today we learn that these rats are carrying various strains of COVID-19. Clearly the rats haven’t been following CDC masking protocols or maintaining proper social distancing.

A new study, published in the journal of the American Society for Microbiology, reports that “wild rats in the New York municipal sewer systems” can catch SARS-CoV-2, including the dominant strains: alpha, delta, and omicron.

“Our findings highlight the need for further monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in rat populations to determine if the virus is circulating in the animals and evolving into new strains that could pose a risk to humans,” Henry Wan, a professor of infectious diseases and lead investigator for the study, said in a statement. “Overall, our work in this space shows that animals can play a role in pandemics that impacts humans, and it’s important that we continue to increase our understanding so we can protect both human and animal health.”

Over two trapping efforts in September and November of 2021, federal health inspectors worked with the city’s department of parks and recreation to snatch up 79 Norway rats (the fat brown species) from spots near Brooklyn wastewaters. Thirteen of them tested positive for COVID-19 infection.

The real concern is that the rats could continue to pass this among themselves and eventually develop some new strain that gets passed back to people. Several stories on this topic suggest there could be as many rats as people in NYC (about 8 million of each) but CNN highlights a 2014 study which suggested there were probably only 2 million rats. Of course that was pre-pandemic. The numbers are probably higher now.

Timothy Wong, an exterminator at M&M Pest Control for the last two decades, said he’s confident the city’s rodent population has ballooned to new levels. He said he had discussions months ago with the Health Department about bringing new technology and training to the city’s rat-killing efforts, but hasn’t heard back.

Without a significant overhaul to its waste management program, Wong argued, the city was effectively surrendering in its war against rats.

“You have a building with like 400 residents and they have like 300 trash bags out there for seven or eight hours,” Wong said. “What do you think is going to happen?”

In December, New York announced it was looking for a rat czar to handle the problem:

New York City is recruiting a new “director of rodent mitigation” to rid the streets of its most notorious furry inhabitants.

The city’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Operations published a job listing for the position, aka “rat czar,” on Wednesday.

“Do you have what it takes to do the impossible?” asks the listing. “A virulent vehemence for vermin? A background in urban planning, project management, or government? And most importantly, the drive, determination and killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy – New York City’s relentless rat population?”…

The city is seeking someone “highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty,” with both “stamina and stagecraft.”

And you’ll need a “swashbuckling attitude, crafty humor, and general aura of badassery.”

It sounds like they’re hiring someone to put on a show for the media. Does anyone really expect things to improve after hiring a rat czar? Maybe what we need is lots of hawks. They don’t talk much but they get the job done.

In New York City, the rats go viral for eating pizza – and the hawks go viral for eating rats. Watch this bird shock onlookers in the Upper West Side by descending into a trash can and pulling out a sizable "snack." pic.twitter.com/S5zo2WlYIr

— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 30, 2022