The rodent problem in Hong Kong has been criticized for many years. Last year, the Government allocated more than HK$700 million of public funds to the pest control work of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, a record high in the past five years. However, the results of the work were not significant. During the year, only 67,182 dead rats and live rats were collected, which means the average cost per rat was over HK$10,000. The authorities said that in addition to the routine rodent eradication work, the FEHD will conduct two rounds of community rodent eradication operations this year.
According to the latest government documents, the resources allocated by the government over the past five years have continued to rise. Among them, the overall expenditure on pest control services, including government staff expenses, annual expenses for service contracts, and other related daily operating expenses, increased from HK$569 million in 2017-18 to HK$731 million last year . The relevant estimated expenditure for this year will further increase to HK$751 million. The establishment of civil servants for pest control during the year will be 745, and the total number of outsourced staff will be 2,208.
As for the number of rats caught, the FEHD had placed poison rat baits on buildings 109,685 times and used rat traps 86,164 times last year, collected 33,336 dead rats and captured 33,846 live rats, with a total of 67,182 rats. The 60,860 in the previous year slightly increased by 6,322, but the expenditure on rodent control also increased accordingly. The overall expenditure on pest control services increased from HK$663 million in 2019-20 to HK$726 million in 2020-21. Only 67,182 dead rats and catching live rats were counted, which means that the cost of catching one rat was more than HK$10,000.
The government has been pumping water to eradicate rodents and insects, but the results are still limited. Last year, FEHD placed poison rat baits in buildings 109,685 times, used mouse traps 86,164 times, and collected 67,182 dead and live rats. In the same year, the department eliminated another 72,012 mosquito breeding sites.
The authorities said the overall rodent infestation reference index was 3.1% last year, a slight drop of 0.5 percentage points from 3.6% in 2020. However, there are still 3 monitoring sites with the rat infestation reference index reaching Level 2, that is, the areas where rodent infestation is slightly more common. The rodent infestation index in the district and Sai Kung district both increased compared with the previous year.
The FEHD stated that it has formulated a management approach for integrated rodent control with reference to the recommendations and technical guidelines of the World Health Organization, and reviewed and improved various vector surveillance plans and pest control measures from time to time to strengthen the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases . At present, the department uses rodent reference index surveys, rodent complaints, opinions from local people and the public, and regular inspections by frontline staff to assess the rodent infestation situation in various districts.
The FEHD will also assess the scope and severity of rodent infestation at individual locations through on-site observation of rodent trails, such as feces, bite marks, rat holes, etc., so as to determine the number and location of rodent baits and traps. In addition, the department has also introduced a thermal energy monitoring system equipped with artificial intelligence technology to more accurately understand the rodent activity in individual locations with more severe rodent infestation, so as to facilitate the deployment of targeted rodent control and rodent eradication work.
As for the rodent eradication work this year, the Hong Kong government has allocated an additional HK$500 million to the FEHD in two years to strengthen environmental hygiene services, including intensifying efforts to prevent rodent infestations in response to the epidemic. The authorities revealed that in order to improve the accuracy of the rodent infestation reference index, the FEHD is cooperating with two local universities to conduct research on rats in Hong Kong, to further understand the food preferences of rats, and to introduce more attractive and suitable for rodent infestation investigations. Rat bait.
In addition, the FEHD organizes a territory-wide and cross-departmental rodent eradication campaign every year. The second phase of the campaign will start in early July this year. Two rounds of 8-week anti-rodent operations in target communities will be launched in May and October respectively. The first round of operations will include Central and Western District, Southern District, Wong Tai Sin District, Kowloon Dragon District, Tsuen Wan District and Tai Po District.