Does Summit Hill need a pied piper to lead it out of its rat problem? Despite the topic coming up at several borough council meetings going back a year or more, there does not seem to be a quick fix.

If only this Panther Valley borough could do what the officials of Hamelin, Germany, did back in the Middle Ages, according to legend. They hired a rat-catcher dressed in multicolored clothing, who played a flute-like instrument and lured away the rats from the community during the time of the bubonic plague, saving the city from the epidemic.

Earlier this year, Summit Hill Borough Council hired Jason Bell as a zoning officer (he also serves as a borough police officer). In addition to handling complaints and issuing violation notices, he also is walking the community on a monthly basis and cites offending property owners for violations, including rat infestations if applicable, but as borough council President Michael Kokinda says he is only one person and is doing the best he can.

Council members have been sympathetic to residents’ pleas and complaints but said aside from citing non-complying owners who fail to maintain their properties, there is not much they can do in an official capacity. The answer seems to be for the individuals to get an exterminator or traps if they have a rat problem on their property, but what about abandoned properties or those owned by absentee landlords who have become expert at ghosting borough officials?

Some residents have suggested declaring a health emergency, but what has occurred so far does not rise to the level of such a drastic step, agrees Kokinda, who said there are just certain problem areas.

While casting about for a solution, we must remember that rat infestations can lead to serious health and sanitary issues in a community. Let’s not forget that the fleas from rats were largely responsible for bubonic plague in the Middle Ages that killed 30 to 50% of the European population - a staggering 75 million to 200 million people.

Now I am not for a minute suggesting that what is going on in Summit Hill might be a precursor to a modern day “Black Death.” What I am trying to emphasize is that rats are disease-carriers, and when they appear in large numbers, the infestation can have dire consequences for a community, from residents’ health and mental well-being to an effect on property values.

I am reminded of the 1947 novel by French existentialist author Albert Camus. When I read his “La Peste” (“The Plague”), which was set in the North African city of Oran, Algeria, I wondered what it would have been like if such a catastrophic event were to have befallen my beloved hometown of Summit Hill.

“You must picture the consternation of our little town, hitherto so tranquil, and now, out of the blue, shaken to its core,” Camus wrote. What would it be like to find the community shut off from the rest of the world, citizens restricted to their homes as the contagion relentlessly marched through the population?

While Camus’ novel centers on Oran, he makes clear that this can happen anywhere at any time. Despite the historical presence of periodic episodes of epidemics and pestilence, each takes us humans by surprise, Camus observed.

Recent studies have shown that although a significant amount of research exists on rat-transmitted diseases and the health consequences of rat exposure, little is known about its effects on residents’ mental health. Awareness of an infestation and direct exposure to rats were both cited in these studies as mental health stressors and drivers of anxiety among residents.

In Camus’ novel, residents did not accurately diagnose the signs of what was about to happen, so they went about their daily routines. “In this respect, our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves,” said the narrator in “The Plague.” “They disbelieved in pestilences.” It shows how easy it is to mistake an epidemic for an annoyance.

His other key message is the sobering realization that just as with COVID-19, becoming infected is indiscriminate. Contagion is not limited to any segment of the population; it can affect anyone at any time. You can’t buy your immunity.

A spokesperson for the Carbon County Health Department referred me to the state Health Department where a spokesman said, “This issue would be covered by local nuisance codes, not the Department of Health.” The Penn State Extension Service, with an office in Jim Thorpe, said it is not in the business of rodent eradication, but it does provide support literature to individuals, companies and communities upon request. Kokinda said the borough has not reached out to other agencies because, in his opinion at the moment, it is a property-owner’s issue.

By BRUCE FRASSINELLI| tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.