For the latest study measuring the devastation that Hurricane Katrina and its flooding inflicted upon New Orleans, as well as the recovery from that catastrophe, the focus is on . . . rats.
Yes, rats. The federally financed study by Tulane University ecologists, sociologists and geographers will examine how the diseases that these rodents can transmit corresponded with the flooding that drowned 80 percent of the city.
Rats are known to carry the pathogens for diseases such as leptospirosis, bartonella and hantavirus.