This is the revolting moment a plague of rats are filmed running freely across patients’ beds in a hospital ward in India.

The stomach-churning footage, filmed in different hospitals in Rampur and Aligarh, has shamed health officials in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

One clip said to have been filmed in Rampur District Hospital. Shows the rats crawling up and down the bed frames and onto tables looking for food.

With no apparent fear of the people in the beds, they run across the ward apparently at will.

Some well-informed patients. according to local media. Have learned to sleep with their faces covered with blankets to avoid being bitten, as can reportedly be seen in the footage.

A second clip shows rodents scurrying all over the floor at what local media described as the District Government Hospital Malkhan Singh in Aligarh.

The images were reportedly shared online to raise awareness over the hygiene crisis at hospitals. Both run by the Indian government.

Rats and other rodents can spread a lethal cocktail of diseases to humans. Including killers like Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which is spread through their droppings.

Local media called on government health officials to wipe out rodent infestations in hospitals.