RAT Terrorizes NYC - why are rats feared?

                                    Emotion as a Way of Knowing - do they inspire fear in every cultue? In this instance the rat was probably more terrified than the commuters. Europeans are still taught that rats were responsible for the plague or Black Death which killed millions.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of
an estimated75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the
years 1348–50 CE.^[1][2][3] Although there were several competing
theories as to the etiology of
the Black Death, analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe
published in 2010 and 2011 indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium, probably causing several
forms of plague.^[4][5]

The Black Death is
thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then
travelled along the Silk Road,
reaching the Crimea by 1346.^[6] From there, it was most likely carried
by Oriental rat
fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships.
Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is
estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population.^[7] All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million
down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. 

The aftermath of the
plague created a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had
profound effects on the course of European history.
It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The
plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century. Wikipedia.