Northland woman warns of rare rat bite fever risk after trapping

With winter just around the corner and householders setting traps to keep pests at bay, a Northland woman is warning people about a little-known serious illness - rat bite fever . The woman in her 70s, who did not want to be named, said she had been trapping rats for more than 30 years and had not even heard of rat bite fever (RBF) before she contracted it five years ago. Rats normally died in the traps she used and she usually wore gloves to dispose of them.

However, she became ill after she grabbed at a live rat trying to escape the trap. The woman said she only fleetingly touched it with her bare thumb before dispatching it. She washed her hands immediately after then applied antiseptic cream.



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