How a plague of 'mutating' super rats are taking over Sydney and becoming resistant to poison: 'Impossible to kill'
Black rats in Australia's biggest cities have developed a genetic mutation that increases their resistance to one of the most widely used poisons.
New research led by Edith Cowan University PhD student and environmental toxicologist Alicia Gorbould found the mutation in over half the rats tested in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney between 2021 and 2024.
The mutation suggests the rats have developed a resistance to second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, also known as SGARs, but other animals continue to be inadvertently killed by these types of rat poison.
SGARs are deadly to secondary predators, such as tawny frogmouths, Australian boobooks and eastern barn owls, that feed on rodents.
Black rats are the most common introduced rat in Australia and experts warn their increase in resistance to poison could pose a serious risk to the country's wildlife.
Ms Gorbould also expressed fears of a public health crisis as Australians may be using larger quantities of poison in an attempt to rid rats from their home.
However, instead of working effectively, this would serve to introduce more poison into the food chain, and into waterways.
Animals that consume the poison, which prevents blood clotting, die from internal bleeding.
Research carried out by Ms Gorbould and her team found genetic mutation Tyr25Phe, which is associated with resistance to anticoagulant rodenticides, in 53.7 per cent of the rats they tested.
The tests were carried out on the tails of 191 rails caught in Australia's fourth most populated cities.
Alarmingly, the gene was found in over 80 per cent of black rats tested in Perth, over 45 per cent in Sydney, 39 per cent in Melbourne.
Tyr25Phe was found in none of the 10 rats tested in Brisbane.
'If you're using one of the baits that don't work … people will probably try to use more, and more, and more,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'And so it's feeding back into that cycle of increasing the rates of resistance in the population, increasing those non-targeted poisonings, and then we're ending up essentially with a public health issue because we've got these rats that can't be controlled.'
Second-generation rodenticides are so potent they are banned in the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The poison makes it way up the food chain and kills other animals in a huge risk to Australia's biodiversity.
Scientists at Deakin University previously found rat poison was to blame for killing powerful owls.
In 2022, in a study looking at the prey of powerful owls, the team dissected 160 possums.
They found rat poison in 91 per cent of brushtail possums and 40 per cent of ringtail possums tested.
Ms Gorbould urged Australians to consider against using rat poisons and instead look to non-poison alternatives.
She suggested snap traps and electrocution traps while pointing out that 'prevention is better than cure'.
The scientist advised the best thing people can do is make sure they don't have places for rodents to live by removing waste from their yards.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
US FDA puts on hold Rein Therapeutics' lung disease drug trial
June 12 (Reuters) - Rein Therapeutics (RNTX.O), opens new tab has paused patient enrollment and dosing in a mid-stage trial of its lung disease drug in the U.S. after the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold, the drug developer said on Thursday. Shares of the company fell nearly 10% after the bell. The company was testing a drug named LTI-03 to treat patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The disease causes scarring of the lungs that makes it harder for them to work properly. Rein said in a filing that it is actively working with the FDA to remove the clinical hold. The FDA and Rein did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on why the hold was placed. The drug was well-tolerated and safe in an early-stage study in patients with IPF, the company said in the filing. No drug-related serious adverse events have been reported in any studies treating patients with LTI-03, it added. Rein continues to study the drug and enroll patients in Australia and Europe.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Meet the vaccines skeptics that are now part of RFK Jr.'s vaccine approval committee
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has announced new members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel. Earlier in the week, the secretary made waves when he purged all 17 former members, citing 'historical corruption at ACIP.' 'The most outrageous example of ACIP's malevolent malpractice has been its stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children,' he wrote in a post on X. In their place, Kennedy hand picked eight members, who he said were individuals 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense' and who wouldn't be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.' He noted that each of them have committed to 'demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations' and that the committee would review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule. But, the moves have been concerning to experts, who noted that several members have been critical of vaccines. The fired panel members have said that their ousting signaled that scientific expertise was 'no longer of use' under Kennedy and that that decision would 'undermine public trust in the vaccine process,' in a time when vaccine hesitancy has led to the spread of measles and other disease. So, who are the new members Kennedy says will help to restore that trust? Here's what and who to know... Dr. Robert W. Malone Dr. Robert Malone is a former mRNA researcher who has been a close advisory to Kennedy. Kennedy said he has served in advisory roles for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. He earned a medical degree from Northwestern University in 1991 and has taught at the University of California at Davis and the University of Maryland. He runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, and has been active on social media and in various outlets. He rose to prominence during the pandemic, relaying conspiracy theories about the vaccines and Covid. He has promoted alternative treatments for the virus and measles. He's claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the shots and suggested that the vaccines cause a form of AIDS. Malone said in a post on X that he will do his best "to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.' 'I have attended many, many ACIP meetings in the past on behalf of clients. I played a key role in enabling advanced development of the Merck Ebola vaccine. I have deep expertise and experience in influenza vaccines and vaccine manufacturing technology, and have spoken on this issue at the WHO by invitation,' he said. Dr. Martin Kulldorff Dr. Martin Kulldorff is a biostatistician and epidemiologist. He's a founding member of the D.C.-based Academy for Science and Freedom at the nonsectarian Christian Hillsdale College. The academy aims to 'combat the recent and widespread abuses of individual and academic freedom made in the name of science' and 'educate the American people about the 'free exchange of scientific ideas and the proper relationship between freedom and science in the pursuit of truth.' Formerly a professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Kulldorf wrote in an op-ed that telling the 'truth' had gotten him fired. 'Bodily autonomy is not the only argument against Covid vaccine mandates. They are also unscientific and unethical,' wrote Kulldorff. On LinkedIn, he has said the National Institute of Health had failed Americans during the pandemic. Notably, he was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, along with NIH head Jay Bhattacharya, which was an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing harm. He has posted on X in support of the positions of Kennedy, Bhattacharya, and new FDA Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Vinay Prasad. Kennedy said Kulldorff has served on the Food and Drug Administration's Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC's Vaccine Safety Subgroup of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He noted Kulldorff also developed widely used tools such as SaTScan and TreeScan for detecting disease outbreaks and vaccine adverse events, and said he was an advocate for 'evidence-based approaches to pandemic response.' On Thursday, Endpoints News reported that Kulldorff and Malone were paid hundreds of dollars an hour to be a part of cases challenging the safety and efficacy of drugmaker Merck's HPV and MMR shots. Malone confirmed he had done 'expert witness consultation.' A request for comment from Kulldorff was not immediately returned. Dr. Retsef Levi Dr. Retsef Levi is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He also serves as the faculty leader for Food Chain Supply Analytics. Prior to working at MIT, he spent nearly 12 years as an officer in the Intelligence Wing of the Israeli Defense Forces. An MIT bio page for Levi says he leads several industry-based collaborative research efforts with local hospitals and that he has been on contract to address risk related to 'economically motivated adulterations of food manufactured in global supply chains.' His pinned tweet claims that mRNA vaccines 'cause serious harm including death, especially among young people.' 'We have to stop giving them immediately!' he urged. 'From what I've seen so far, I think it's obvious that these mRNA vaccines should not be given to anybody young or healthy. It is also not at all clear to me that they should be given to anybody, based on the evidence,' he said in a new interview. 'I am honored with this opportunity and humbled by the responsibility,' he wrote. Vicky Pebsworth A registered nurse and a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses, Vicky Pebsworth has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group previously described in The Washington Post as ' the oldest anti-vaccine advocacy group ' in the country. She earned a doctorate in public health and nursing from the University of Michigan. She has worked in the health care field in various capacities for more than 45 years. She is a former member of the FDA's Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee's 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group and Vaccine Safety Working Group (Epidemiology and Implementation Subcommittees), according to Kennedy. 'Her son — her only child — experienced serious, long-term health problems following receipt of seven live virus and killed bacterial vaccines administered during his 15-month well-baby visit which sparked her interest in vaccine safety research and policymaking and chronic illness and disability in children,' a bio page for her says. But, there are others on the panel whose vaccine stances aren't as clear. Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln Dr. Joseph Hibbeln has worked at the National Institutes of Health since the late 1990s. He formerly served as the Acting Chief of of the Section on Nutritional Neurosciences. He is also a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, with work focused on how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy. He attended the University of Chicago for his undergraduate degree and received his medical degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1988. He served his residency at UCLA in 1992. He serves as a Captain in the United States Public Health Service. Recently, he wrote to ask another LinkedIn user about their position regarding 'closing nearly all vaccine research' at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Cody Meissner Dr. Cody Meissner is a former member of the committee and a professor of pediatrics at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. He is the Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tufts Children's Hospital and has served as a member of the Human Health and Services (HHS) Tick-borne Diseases Working Group. He has been the principal investigator for numerous vaccine clinical trials and the HHS Chair of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. He's held an advisory role at the Food and Drug Administration. Florida Republican Governor Ron Santis has quoted him as saying that closing schools during the Covid pandemic had 'aggravated the issue of inequity in our society.' Dr. James Pagano Dr. James Pagano is an emergency medicine physician with more than 40 years of clinical experience. He also did his residency at UCLA. 'Dr. Pagano served on multiple hospital committees, including utilization review, critical care, and medical executive boards. He is strong advocate for evidence-based medicine,' Kennedy said. Dr. Michael A. Ross Dr. Michael Ross is a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist who previously served on a CDC breast and cervical cancer advisory committee. He is described as a 'serial CEO and physician leader' in a bio page for Havencrest Capital Management, a private equity investment firm where he is an operating partner. He recently started a position as the chief medical officer for the Maryland-based AI start-up Manta Pharma. He is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University. 'He has advised major professional organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and contributed to federal advocacy efforts around women's health and preventive care. His continued service on biotech and healthcare boards reflects his commitment to advancing innovation in immunology, reproductive medicine, and public health,' Kennedy said.
Sky News
10 hours ago
- Sky News
Gonorrhoea vaccine programme to launch after rise in diagnoses
Why you can trust Sky News A new vaccine programme will be launched in Scotland to help curb cases of gonorrhoea following a rise in diagnoses post-pandemic. The sexually transmitted infection (STI) is the nation's second most common bacterial STI, with the latest figures showing 5,999 cases in 2023 - a 59% increase since before COVID hit. It is hoped the £280,000 programme - which will begin in August and is being funded by the Scottish government - will address increasing health inequalities and growing resistance to antibiotics treatment. Those eligible include gay and bisexual men at highest risk of infection, those involved in selling or exchanging sex regardless of gender, and those who sexual health clinic professionals assess as being at a similar risk level. Gonorrhoea can cause significant pain and discomfort, and in rare cases life-threatening sepsis. Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: "This action is urgent and timely since the number of diagnoses has been high and the disease is becoming increasingly difficult to treat with antibiotics. "The science tells us that this vaccine will potentially protect thousands of people and prevent the spread of infection. "Anything which stops people from contracting gonorrhoea in the first place can have huge benefits, including ensuring our health system remains resilient by reducing the amount of treatment needed." The medication will be delivered by the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme led by Public Health Scotland (PHS). The funding is expected to cover first and second doses of the 4CMenB vaccine. The Scottish government said the vaccine was 30-40% effective and will be offered in clinics alongside those for HPV, hepatitis and the routine mpox vaccination programme. Dr Sam Ghebrehewet, head of the vaccination and immunisation division at PHS, said: "With gonorrhoea diagnoses having increased in recent years, the offer of the 4CMenB vaccine to those at highest risk of exposure is a welcome new intervention. "This vaccination programme is expected to help control and prevent the spread of gonorrhoea. "Public Health Scotland is working with the Scottish government and colleagues across NHS boards to finalise plans for the rollout of this targeted vaccination offering to those at increased risk of gonorrhoea from August 2025."
