The global war against the rat and the epistemic emergence of zoonosis

Rats carry deadly diseases such as plague and murine typhus. When this was discovered at the turn of the 19th century, it led to a global war against rats. 

This project will examine the global history of the scientific study of the rat and of the public health practices that were developed and deployed to control rates after discovering their role in the transmission of infectious diseases. It will explore how knowledge acquired through scientific studies of the rat and knowledge acquired during the development and application of practical, public health measures of vector-control (rat-proofing, rat-catching and rat-poisoning) contributed to our understanding of the way in which diseases are transmitted to humans from animals. We will also examine the role that different forms of animal-human contact plays in this process of infection known as zoonosis, a key driver of global health risk today.