There are several million of them in Paris and leave no one indifferent: rats regularly sow discord in the capital. Faced with their proliferation in the city, some gardeners fear contracting leptospirosis, a disease transmitted to humans by rodents because of a bacterium present in their urine, reports Le Parisien.
A situation that prompts city officials to request a vaccination. “The City has given me the go-ahead, on the condition that I agree to do all the recalls. There is no obligation, but you can ask for it, explains Sébastien, employed for twenty years in the direction of green spaces (Deve). But it would seem normal to me that we offer it to all agents, because yes, we are exposed. The National Academy of Medicine recalled that the rat remains a threat to humans because of “many zoonoses transmissible by its exoparasites, its droppings, its bites or its scratches”.
In addition to the health side, the subject is also political. Geoffroy Boulard, mayor (LR) of the 17th arrondissement, believes that the request is “legitimate”. “In the current context of the resurgence of rats in gardens, we can be concerned about the public health policy vis-à-vis the agents carried out by the executive,” says the elected official. If necessary, I will offer vaccination by professionals to the gardeners of the 17th. It’s not up to me to do it, but I won’t hesitate if nothing is done to protect our agents, ”he warns in the daily columns.
These health risks are nuanced by the City of Paris, which explains that “the rat, very fearful, is not a predator by nature”. She believes that transmissions are reduced because “there must indeed be direct or indirect contact between humans and animals, and direct contact is extremely rare”. Thus, the City ensures that gardeners are not really exposed to a health risk by being in contact with rodents. She also justifies this choice by the heaviness of the vaccination process (3 primary injections and a booster every two years with side effects).
In 2017, the City of Paris estimated the annual cost of eradicating rats at 1.5 million euros, a cost including all measures (rat eradication campaigns, cleanliness actions, change of street furniture, etc. .). Among the reasons for the rats surfacing are the many works underway in the capital. One year from the Paris Olympics, the soap opera should therefore continue.