--- title: NYC Rats Diseases: Here's How Many They Have description: Rats in New York City are infected with a slew of diseases that include E. coli, Salmonella and viruses similar to hepatitis C. canonical: https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-15T15:30:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:47:29.250Z article:section: Health og:title: Here Are The Diseases In NYC Rats og:description: Rats in New York City are infected with a slew of diseases that include E. coli, Salmonella and viruses similar to hepatitis C. og:url: https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt344faa73510eb5d2/698760eb0b72e3c2416db0d2/sewer-rat1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5103 og:image:height: 2870 og:image:alt: sewer rat og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are The Diseases In NYC Rats twitter:description: Rats in New York City are infected with a slew of diseases that include E. coli, Salmonella and viruses similar to hepatitis C. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt344faa73510eb5d2/698760eb0b72e3c2416db0d2/sewer-rat1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are The Diseases In NYC Rats > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=b13f0de4-15ba-4577-94b4-ab28c17eebf8&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 15, 2014 3:30 PM UTC  RAT ON STREET, NIGHT RAT ON STREET, NIGHT Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 15, 2014 3:30 PM UTC Infected with 1.6 bacterial agents and 3.1 viruses, the average New York City rat is a cesspool of disease. But perhaps more frightening to hear is that they’re also host to “many more novel viruses” with unknown potential to harm city dwellers, according to a new [study](http://mbio.asm.org/content/5/5/e01933-14.full) in the journal _mBio_. “Our findings indicate that urban rats are reservoirs for a vast diversity of microbes that may affect human health and indicate a need for increased surveillance and awareness of the disease risks associated with urban rodent infestation,” says the study, which looked at samples of blood, urine and feces in 133 rats. The report found that about 40% of the rodents had at least one viral infection and nearly all had a bacterial infection. A total of 13 rats had more than five viruses. _Salmonella_ and _Bartonella_ were among the bacteria in the sample, but _E. coli_ took the crown as the most common bacterial pathogen. Nearly 40% of rats in the sample had the bacteria, known to cause severe illness replete with vomiting and diarrhea. Pathogens associated with hepatitis C, which can cause liver failure, were among the most common viral pathogens present. **MORE**: [FDA Approves Combined Hepatitis Drugs](http://time.com/3491552/fda-hepatitis-drug/) Diseases in rats can have implications for people who live in urban areas in close proximity to the rodents, which can often access the food supply. Despite the prevalence of rats in urban areas, the health implications of rat infestation has not been studied in great depth, but the study says that should change. “With continued urbanization, highly successful synanthropic species like the Norway rat are likely to play increasingly important roles in zoonotic disease ecology as the size and complexity of the human-rodent interface increases,” the study reads. To translate, as humans and rats cross paths more often, the potential to pass along disease will increase. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/"},"headline":"Here Are The Diseases In NYC Rats","datePublished":"2014-10-15T15:30:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:47:29.250Z","description":"A new reason to dodge the rodents","url":"https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","New York City","Research"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt344faa73510eb5d2/698760eb0b72e3c2416db0d2/sewer-rat1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt344faa73510eb5d2/698760eb0b72e3c2416db0d2/sewer-rat1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sewer rat","caption":"sewer rat","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3507898/nyc-rats-diseases/","name":"Here Are The Diseases In NYC Rats"}}]}] ```