Rat Risk Index Project

Urban rat infestations are common in cities around the world and can cause economic damage, public and mental health risks. But most city rat control programs struggle to make real progress because they don’t have clear goals or a consistent way to decide where action is needed most. Many programs focus only on counting rats or looking for signs of their presence. On their own, these numbers don’t show whether rats are actually causing harm in a neighborhood or how local conditions shape the problem. Without this broader context, it’s difficult for cities to choose effective strategies or measure whether their efforts are working. The Rat Risk Index Project moves away from the usual counting rats approach and instead uses a risk-based approach to build a metric for rat infestations and harms to be used in cities.

Outcomes

Quantifying rat infestations with novel technologies

We’re using new sensor technologies to measure rat activity and abundance, and mapping where rat-sighting reports cluster to understand what underlying factors drive infestations.

Describing the impacts of rat infestations on health, wellbeing, and infrastructure

By reviewing the literature on harms caused by urban rats, we are identifying and connecting the types and levels of harms experienced in cities.

Building a metric for rat infestations and harms to be used in cities

We are building an index that quantifies rat risks which considers the magnitudes and consequences of rat infestations. Cities can use this index to evaluate whether interventions are working and to plan, prioritize, and monitor their rat management efforts.

This work is made possible by a national, cross-sector advisory board Herman Barkema, University of Calgary; Erin Cuthbert, BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food; Murray Gillies, Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System; Katherine Paphitis, Public Health Ontario; Javier Sanchez, University of Prince Edward Island; Sandy Terpstra, Almelo Holsteins Inc.; and Dairy Farmers of Canada.