New York Suffers Record Rise in Potentially Deadly Disease Caused by Rat Urine

The agency said that 24 cases were reported in New York City in 2023, the highest number in a single year on record.

Members of "The Ryder's Alley Trencher-fed Society (R.A.T.S.)" meet with their dogs to vermin control a neighborhood in lower Manhattan in New York on May 14, 2021. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

New York City has seen a record jump in the number of human leptospirosis, a disease caused by rat urine that can cause kidney damage, liver failure, and even death.

The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued an advisory on April 12, warning that the number of human leptospirosis cases continues to trend upward.