"I don't feel safe sitting in my own yard": Chicago resident experiences with urban rats during a COVID-19 stay-at-home order

Abstract

Background: Encounters with rats in urban areas increase risk of human exposure to rat-associated zoonotic pathogens and act as a stressor associated with psychological distress. The frequency and nature of human-rat encounters may be altered by social distancing policies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, restaurant closures may reduce food availability for rats and promote rat activity in nearby residential areas, thus increasing public health risks during a period of public health crisis. In this study, we aimed to identify factors associated with increased perceived exposure to rats during a stay-at-home order, describe residents' encounters with rats relevant to their health and well-being, and identify factors associated with increased use of rodent control.

Methods: Urban residents in Chicago, a large city with growing concerns about rats and health disparities, completed an online questionnaire including fixed response and open-ended questions during the spring 2020 stay-at-home order. Analyses included ordinal multivariate regression, spatial analysis, and thematic analysis for open-ended responses.

Results: Overall, 21% of respondents (n = 835) reported an increase in rat sightings around their homes during the stay-at-home order and increased rat sightings was positively associated with proximity to restaurants, low-rise apartment buildings, and rat feces in the home (p ≤ 0.01). Many respondents described feeling unsafe using their patio or yard, and afraid of rats entering their home or spreading disease. Greater engagement with rodent control was associated with property ownership, information about rat control, and areas with lower incomes (p ≤ 0.01).

Conclusions: More frequent rat encounters may be an unanticipated public health concern during periods of social distancing, especially in restaurant-dense areas or in low-rise apartment buildings. Rat presence may also limit residents' ability to enjoy nearby outdoor spaces, which otherwise might buffer stress experienced during a stay-at-home order. Proactive rat control may be needed to mitigate rat-associated health risks during future stay-at-home orders.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Qualitative research; Social science; Spatial analysis; Urban health; Urban rat; Zoonotic disease.

Fig. 1

Map of Chicago showing community area boundaries and the locations of survey respondents. Community areas are shaded based on the number of respondents who self-reported their neighborhood of residence (n = 740). Red circles indicate the closest major intersection reported by respondents (n = 627). The locations of respondent intersections were offset by a random distance within a 500 m buffer to maintain respondent privacy

Fig. 2

Thematic structure describing resident experiences with rats during the stay-at-home order. Yellow and blue squares represent major themes identified in open-ended survey responses using thematic analysis. Red squares represent experiences unique to the stay-at-home order period

Fig. 3

Relationships between the change in rat sightings during the stay-at-home order in Chicago and proximity to restaurants (a) or housing type (b) based on ordinal regression of survey responses. Lines show the probability of a survey respondent reporting more rats (red solid line), fewer rats (blue dashed line), about the same number of rats (black dotted line) or no rats (gray dotted line) relative to a month prior. The count of restaurants was log-transformed for analysis due to right skewness and back-transformed for ease of interpretation. Shaded bands (a) or error bars (b) show 95% confidence intervals

Fig. 4

Conceptual framework and summary of main factors found via quantitative and qualitative analysis of survey responses to affect resident exposure to rats (red), impacts of rats on human health or well-being (blue), and adaptive capacity to mitigate rats through engagement with rodent control (green). Text in italics highlights areas for future research