An increase in the incidence of a rat-borne disease in city residents, among them Department of Sanitation workers, has officials concerned even as mitigation methods appear to show that the ubiquitous rodent's population in the five boroughs could be declining.
Six cases of human leptospirosis, a potentially serious and even fatal disease caused by direct contact with rat urine, were identified through mid-April after 24 cases were reported last year, the highest number recorded in the city, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in an advisory issued earlier this month.
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