They ate off animal carcases and human cadavers. They devoured raw sewage spewing out of broken pipes. They bred and grew. Whilst the humans hungered, the rats had a feast. The ones I saw in our evacuated Crisis center were the size of young cats.
Leptospirosis is spread through a water supply that has been infected by rats urine.
It produces violent vomiting, diarrhea and, all too quickly, death. The street children who have been delving through the infected waters trying to find anything to eat or sell, are prime targets. Their hands and bare feet already inflicted with small cuts, and the infections on their feet, provide perfect gateways for this unpronouncable and deathly virus. This past week Casa Alianza staff have been vaccinating all the street children in sight against hepatitus A and other preventible diseases. The more than a dozen children with diarrhea have been isolated and checked for infections.