A strange thing has begun happening in Oran. Rats are emerging into the streets, where they move awkwardly in a sort of dance, then bleed profusely and die. At first there are just a few. Then their numbers grow. Soon rats are dying this way by the thousands, so many that they have to be piled and burned. Dr. Bernard Rieux, a physician, recognizes the way the rats are dying is odd and now it is probably not a good sign.