(PI) Dogs and cats off the job--rats storm flooded Manila

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

 

 

Dogs & cats off the job--rats storm flooded Manila

 

MANILA--Rats may leave a sinking ship, but not a flooded city.

Humans, the pets they could carry, work animals, and many

street dogs fled Manila, Rizal, and their suburbs by the thousands

after tropical storm Ketsana dumped a typical month's worth of rain

in only nine hours on September 26, 2009.

Cats and dogs who were not evacuated and found no escape

routes climbed to high places, if they could, above the torrents,

but water spilling over 80% of the Manila metropolitan area kept most

of them wherever they ended up for at least the next four days, when

the flood began receding. Some were stranded for weeks. Much of the

metropolis was left to the rats and mice--and the Philippines are

known for rat and mouse biodiversity, with 62 native mouse and rat

species. Many are found in the greater Manila area, along with

non-native but ubiquitous Norway rats and at least three problematic

species who were accidentally imported from mainland Asia.

Norway rats, the Asian rats, and some of the native rats

are strong swimmers and fast breeders, bold about invading human

habitat, and quick to exploit food sources. And almost anything can

be food to a rat, from abandoned groceries to moldy grain, garbage,

and the drowned carcasses of other animals.

Rat population explosions often follow floods. So does

leptospirosis, a flu-like illness which may be carried by bacteria

in the urine of any infected mammal, but is most often spread by

rats and mice.

Where rat urine contaminates sun-warmed flood water, the

water becomes a medium for transmitting leptospirosis--unless it is

salt water, which kills the bacterium. New Orleans experienced a

rat population explosion after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but not

leptospirosis, because Katrina flooded New Orleans with sea water.

Ketsana inundated Manila with fresh water. Officials frantically

tried to prevent leptospirosis by hosing salt water into the

stagnating pools covering much of the city, but to little apparent

avail.

Humans can contract leptospirosis by drinking contaminated

water, eating contaminated food, or merely wading through

contaminated water with open cuts and abrasions, as flood victims

often do, trying to escape, help others, or salvage possessions.

Ketsana, called Ondoy in the Philippines, proved to be just

the start of the crisis. Typhoon Parma, called Pepeng in the

Philippines, hit two weeks later. Typhoon Miranae hit on October

31, two weeks after Parma.

" Nearly 860 people were killed in flooding and landslides, "

Time magazine reported. " Four weeks later, sections of Manila and

some surrounding provinces are still underwater. The rainfall was

exceptional, " assessed Time, " but the severity of the flooding was

intensified by the city's garbage-clogged drainage system, partly

from the shanties of informal settlers living along waterways and

decades of skewed urban planning. "

Orders were issued for local governments to make refuse

removal a post-flood priority, but rats were already out of control.

The Philippines had 769 reported cases of leptospirosis in

2008 and had just 177 cases in 2009 before the post-Ketsana

outbreaks were first tallied on October 12, but by October 15 had

more than 1,000. Philippine Department of Health program manager for

emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases Lyndon Lee Suy

attributed 2,158 human leptospirosis cases to the flooding on October

26, including 167 fatalities. " We project that the number of

leptospirosis cases will continue to rise, " Lee Suy said, " but not

as high as before, where we report a rise of 400 cases per day. "

Philippine health secretary Francisco Duque III told the

Philippine Star that as many as 1.7 million residents of areas still

underwater were still at risk. " We expect 3,800 people to get the

infection, " Duque said. " Of this number, 3,040 will suffer

uncomplicated symptoms, while the rest will manifest complicated

symptoms that would require them to undergo dialysis or face eventual

death. "

More than half of the hospitals and medical clinics in the

greater Manila area were reportedly inaccessible due to the flooding

and water damage, or were short of supplies.

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society also struggled to stay

above the crisis, with help from rescuers sent by the Humane Society

International divison of the Humane Society of the U.S. and the World

Society for the Protection of Animals.

" The PAWS shelter has not been affected by the flood, "

e-mailed program director Anna Nieves Cabrera on September 28. Her

home and that of PAWS founder Nita Hontiveros Lichauco were also

safe, Cabrera said, but PAWS directors Heidi Guzon and Gwen

Protasio were trapped on the second floor of Guzon's home with about

50 rescued cats, eight dogs, and no food.

" They and their animals are okay, " PAWS volunteer Rich

Illustre updated later. " The only casualties are their chickens,

whom they weren't able to save from the fast-rising flood. "

Added Cabrera, " The head of our disaster relief team, May

Felix, lost one of her dogs when her house was hit by flash

flooding. "

Only three animals were brought to PAWS during the first 48

hours after Ketsana hit, Cabrera said, because " no one can even get

in or out of the flooded areas, " but the next two weeks became

hectic. " All PAWS volunteers have been out on rescue and relief

operations, " Cabrera reported. " We have fed 2,994 animals,

including dogs, cats, and a few cows, pigs and chickens, provided

veterinary care and treatment for 154 and rescued 26, " who joined 25

pets left at the shelter by people who " lost their houses and are

looking for a place to stay. "

Despite the leptospirosis risk, " Anna goes out to rescue

animals in flooded areas, " said Nita Hontiveros Lichauco. " Hundreds

of dogs and cats have been left to fare for themselves. Our shelter

is filled to the rafters. "

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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