The worst mouse plague in almost 40 years has raged in New South Wales for some time. Now a prison has to be evacuated – to protect the inmates.
Sydney – According to media reports, a prison in southeast Australia is being evacuated because of a mouse infestation.
The measure was necessary to protect the health of employees and inmates, reported the broadcaster ABC on Tuesday, citing the facility near Wellington in the Australian state of New South Wales. “The mice start to rot and then mites are the next problem,” Peter Severin, an employee of the detention center, around 260 kilometers northwest of Sydney, was quoted as saying.
According to the Australian news agency AAP, the rodents caused damage to power lines and ceiling panels. In the next ten days, 420 inmates and 200 employees are to be distributed to other prisons in the region until the repairs are completed.
New South Wales has been battling the worst mouse plague in around 40 years for months. The animals destroy crops and can transmit dangerous diseases to humans: From early January to late May, 57 cases of leptospirosis were reported, according to the state health agency. It is a rare disease that can lead to kidney failure and meningitis and is often transmitted in mice. There were only eleven cases in all of 2020. dpa
