As Pikitup workers continue their month-long strike‚ Johannesburg officials have moved to allay fears of a bubonic plague outbreak following reports that a rat in the city had tested positive for exposure to the disease. Mayor Parks Tau reportedly denied this week that the bubonic plague has been found in a dead rat in the city.Jozi mayor talks tough on rubbish strikersAlmost 4000 Pikitup worker have been on strike since March‚ demanding a salary increase and the removal of Pikitup head Amanda Nair. The industrial action has left rubbish infested with rodents‚ maggots‚ flies and cockroaches uncollected around the city.Negotiations between Samwu and Pickitup expected to continue through nightThe National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement that it had found a live rodent which tested positive for antibodies to the bubonic plague in Mayibuye last month.This rodent was one of 13 rodents submitted from the area and was tested as part of the NICD's nationwide monitoring programme for various rodent-borne diseases.The rodent's test results indicate past exposure to the plague organism‚ but does not indicate the presence of the plague in Johannesburg."The presence of plague in an area is usually noticed when unusual ‘die-off’ of rodents occurs in a particular place. In this case‚ no ‘die-off’ has been observed … Presently there is no risk of human disease‚” the NICD said.While there may not yet be cause for alarm over a outbreak of the plague‚ the Gauteng Department of Heath warned Johannesburg residents of the dangers of uncollected refuse.Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu told SABCNews that while workers have a right to strike‚ they “must have full understanding of the impact and implications of the uncollected rubbish over a long period of time”.The plague is transmitted by fleas that live on rodents. People can acquire the plague if bitten by an infected flea or through contact with dead rodents‚ the NCID said.The last local case of the plague in humans was recorded in the Eastern Cape in 1982...