The Rat Busters program now operates alongside OBI's Bug Busters, a mosquito control program launched in April 2006.

As with the Bug Busters program, above, the City of New Orleans Mosquito & Termite Control Board is working with OBI again, this time to help control the growing rat population.

After months of feasting on mounds of abandoned trash and garbage piles left behind in the aftermath of Katrina, rats are on the rise in New Orleans – but hopefully, not for long.

In partnership with the City of New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board, Operation Blessing is launching Rat Busters, a program designed to help suppress the rodent population by treating city storm drains with rat bait.

The program officially launches this week, as teams of Rat Buster volunteers hit the streets and strategically place bouillon-sized cubes of bait into storm drains, which serve as a natural travel path for many of these rodents.

"When the City of New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board realized they had a problem with the rats, they immediately called Operation Blessing," said Jody Herrington, OBI's director of U.S. disaster relief.

But controlling the rodent population was not the only problem. There was also the issue of disease.

"With an already fractured health care system, it is even more important to control the rodent population and the potential spread of disease," Herrington said.

Operating under a license with the Department of Agriculture, OBI's Rat Buster program is using EPA-certified bait with a non-soluble paraffin outer coating so it is not easily dissolved by water.

"We are treating in the safest way possible," Herrington said.

To date, teams have already treated more than 800 city drains. In addition to providing volunteers, OBI is also supplying transportation, administrative supplies and training.

This new rodent control program is now operating alongside OBI's Bug Busters, a mosquito control program which has been treating thousands of abandoned pools and stagnant water sources with larvae-eating Gambusia fish since April of last year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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