San Francisco Walgreens Forced to Close Over ‘Severe Rat Infestation’

According to a recent report, San Francisco ranks No. 5 on a list of the 'rattiest' U.S. cities

Rats eat grains of puffed rice in Allahabad, India on July 28, 2015. (Sanjay Kanojia/Getty Images)

By Amanda Breen 

A Walgreens in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood was shut down on November 8 following a “severe rat infestation,” a report from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, first noted by SFGate, revealed.

Inspectors on site cited “imminent health hazards that could not be immediately corrected,” which included rat-contaminated food on the sales floor and in an upstairs storage area, where they “observed containers of noodles, flour, and other food products gnawed and with vermin droppings on and around them.”

A dead rat was also stuck in a glue trap.

The store will remain closed until it passes inspection; the department is mandating that the store hire a licensed pest-control operator, clean and sanitize affected areas, seal all holes and gaps and install traps.

Despite the city’s recent No. 5 ranking on Orkin’s “Top 50 Rattiest Cities List,” the Noe Valley location is the only Walgreens closure in San Francisco due to rats.

The top spots on Orkin’s list go to Chicago (first for the seventh year in a row), Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Rats can transmit a whole host of diseases to humans, either directly via rat-infected feces, urine, or bites, or indirectly through fleas, ticks or mites. The rodents are also a potential source of allergens.

The Noe Valley location’s site states that the store “is temporarily closed and will reopen as soon as possible.”