The newly opened, $124 million headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is infested by rats, The Daily Caller reports.
Last October, hundreds of employees moved to their new "Class A" building, one of the most luxurious levels of commercial buildings, while it was still under construction.
"Right from the start there were reports of rats in the building," an unnamed employee told The Daily Caller.
"There were rat sightings. One person had a rat in her trash can, and they couldn't get it out. Rat feces were on the floor and on people's desks. Rats are running across people's feet when they're sitting there trying to work," he said.
"There was a woman who had a rat run across her feet when she was sitting at her desk. She started screaming," he added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns on its website that "worldwide, rats and mice spread over 35 diseases. These diseases can be spread to humans directly, through handling of rodents, through contact with rodent feces, urine, or saliva, or through rodent bites."
The agency points to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, or HPS, as a particular hazard.
"HPS is a severe, sometimes fatal, respiratory disease in humans caused by infection with hantaviruses. Anyone who comes into contact with rodents that carry hantaviruses is at risk of HPS," the agency warns.
"When fresh rodent urine, droppings, or nesting materials are stirred up, tiny droplets containing the virus get into the air," the CDC reports.
"Scientists believe that people may be able to get the virus if they touch something that has been contaminated with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, and then touch their nose or mouth."
"The bureau identified an issue with rodents appearing in some areas of the building, due in part to the ongoing construction in the basement and ground level areas," a CFPB spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller.
The bureau's first director, Richard Cordray, "spent an obscene about of money on renovating the CFPB, and his lavish spending could not even prevent a rat infestation," Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., told the Daily Caller.
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