The CSIRO this week released the findings of two separate research projects that have revealed the devastating toll of the last major mouse plague and call for more timely action to prevent disastrous outcomes.
The two studies are the first since 1994 to detail the impact of mouse plagues on regional wellbeing.
In both, researchers spoke directly to people who lived through the 2020-2021 two years after the event .
One study found “the horrors of the 2021 event remain intense” and argued for better co-ordination to ensure government and non-government support is available before, during and after a plague event.
The other found one in four people continued to suffer psychological symptoms aligned with depression and event Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder well after the plague ended.
Lucy Carter’s team ran 23 focus groups and conducted 17 interviews with people in the Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Dunedoo and Mullaley areas.
“For residents who shared their stories, we learned that Coonamble and surrounds were among the hardest hit during the 2021 outbreak,” Ms Carter said.
“The toll on residents in this area was considerable.”
Beyond agriculture
“The 2021 outbreak affected the livelihoods and lives of people beyond agriculture, including those working in healthcare, running small businesses, local organisations and school communities.
“Our research found that people living through catastrophic outbreaks experience a raft of impacts, and some of these haven’t previously been described in detail.
CSIRO researcher Dr Aditi Mankad led the second study, which used an online survey at the end of 2023 with 1,691 people.
“What we found was pretty striking, Dr Mankad said.
“People’s sense of how bad things were wasn’t just about the number of mice – it was about the personal toll.
“The most influential factors were the time, effort and financial costs of trying to manage the infestation, the emotional strain – particularly symptoms of depression – and the persistent feelings of disgust, triggered by the overwhelming smell of mice.
“Two years on, we’re still seeing psychological impacts.
“The strongest predictors of ongoing stress were how low people felt during the plague, and their fear that another one could be just as bad — or even worse.
“This highlights the need to consider not only the physical and economic consequences of such events, but also the longer-term mental health impacts on affected communities.”
“A legitimate collective trauma”
Psychologist Stephanie Ryan was working in Coonamble throughout the 2020–2021 mouse plague, and says the research findings “reflect exactly what many people here experienced.”
“It wasn’t just an inconvenience — it was an event that intruded into every part of daily life.
When something follows you into your kitchen, your bed, your car, and your workplace, it takes away the basic sense of safety and comfort that a home is supposed to provide,” she said.
That loss of control, combined with constant cleaning, disrupted sleep, and the ongoing smell, left many people physically exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed.
She says for some, the stress didn’t end when the mice disappeared.
“I still see people who become anxious when they smell something similar, notice a sudden noise at night, or see signs of pests.
“The body remembers what was frightening or distressing, even years later.
“The ongoing fear of ‘what if it happens again?’ is a very real and understandable response.
“This kind of experience can result in long-term stress, low mood, and in some cases symptoms that look similar to post-traumatic stress — particularly in people who felt trapped or helpless during the plague.”
She says “One of the most helpful things we can do is to name the experience for what it is — a legitimate collective trauma.”
Recognition and response
At the time of the plague, Amanda Glasson was working as a Rural Resilience Officer for NSW Department of Primary Industries and eventually became the leader of a team of officers covering all the communities later included in these studies.
She says the delayed response by government agencies – and even the initial lack of acknowledgement that a plague was occuring – added to the trauma.
“At the time we were producing weekly reports to the NSW Government and a filtered version of those went up to the Director General and via them to the Minister.
“We were reporting mice were on the rise in August/September 2020, farmers were already aerial baiting because it was so wet.
“It wasn’t until the following March or April that anyone really took any notice.
“There was a complete lack of care.”
She said by then the impacts had escalated.
“These communities already had a lot of trauma from the extended drought,” she said.
“Then to have the mouse plague on top of that made the whole situation worse.
“No one in government wanted to hear about anything bad happening out west.
“I guess the government were exhausted too – first the drought, then there were fires and floods – they didn’t want to know about our mice.”
Ms Glasson says she agrees with the finding that a mouse plague should be treated as a natural disaster with agreed steps in place to support people, businesses and communities.
“It was different to the drought, and needed broader support, and earlier support for businesses like supermarkets and food outlets.
“Also for ordinary people, especially vulnerable people.
“Elderly people were being bitten in their homes, because a lot of the older homes aren’t mouse proof, they had bites all over them.
“They could potentially forecast from the conditions and we could get the warning earlier,” she said.
“It did not have to get as bad as it got.”
These stories have been compiled with support of the Australian Local News Resilience Project, an Australian Research Council partnership between Deaking University, Griffith Universities and the ABC