The western Polish city of Poznan has declared war on rats to cope with a growing rodent infestation, local media reported on Monday.
Local authorities ordered mandatory pest control measures to improve sanitary conditions and urged property owners to install baits to catch rats, public broadcaster TVP reported.
They also advised property owners to protect buildings from rodents by sealing all holes and cracks through which rats can enter, the broadcaster added.
The infestation reportedly began during the renovation of the city’s historic Market Square, which destroyed underground rat nests and brought the rodents into public spaces.
Earlier the media reported about problems with rats in the Polish city of Wroclaw. Portal Wyborcza.pl wrote back in 2017 that they flooded the yard in the neighbourhood of Solna Square. Regular measures to exterminate the rodents were not successful – the rodents found themselves in ideal conditions in the city centre. Thanks to leftovers from restaurants that are sent to nearby rubbish bins, the rats don’t have to worry about food.
Officials consoled Poles by saying that modern rats no longer carry plague, smallpox or other deadly diseases, but are merely carriers of common salmonella and other stomach ailments.
