HWN Suggests

Oh Fleas, Now There Is A Typhus Outbreak In Los Angeles

Fleas bite and aren't potty trained. That's why there's now an outbreak of typhus in downtown Los Angeles, as announced by the Los Angeles Department of Health.

Since July, there have been 9 reported cases of typhus in Los Angeles, specifically Pasadena, which qualifies as an outbreak. That brings the number of reported cases for 2018 to 20 for Pasadena and 12 for Long Beach, California, as Dennis Romero and Andrew Blankstein reported for NBC News. For both places, that's been over twice what would normally be expected. Yes, it's been literally a more poopy year in the Los Angeles area, and there is still 3 more months to go in this year. Poopy? How so? Read on.

Mind you,…

read full article

Featured

  Typhoid Fever, Typhus & Tuberculosis: Are L.A.'s Medieval Diseases Coming To Your City?

If rising chronic homelessness in California was one unintended consequence of rapid-fire criminal justice reforms, then L.A.’s rat-infested, disease-ridden, trash-filled streets are a result of a second set of policy decisions by local officials.

Articles of Interest

Flea-Borne Typhus

Flea-borne typhus is a disease caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi. It's spread to people through contact with infected fleas. The fleas become infected when they bite infected animals, such as rats, cats, or opossums. Common symptoms include fever, body...

How Fluffy's Fleas Can Hop Onto Humans And Spread Murine Typhus

Part of the reason for the resurgence may be that the disease appears to be spread not just by rats, but by animals many people don’t view as disease carriers. In fact, says Bonny Mayes, an epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services, the term “murine” which means “related to mice or other rodents” is no longer accurate. “We actually prefer the term 'flea-borne typhus' to 'murine' because we find that many of our cases appear to be associated more with feral cat and opossum exposure as opposed to rodents,” Mayes says.

L.A. typhus outbreak adds fuel to the debates over homelessness and housing

Typhus outbreaks are often associated with poor hygiene and overcrowding. Los Angeles officials say they’re corralling stray animals that could carry fleas, cleaning streets and encouraging people to treat their pets for fleas and put away trash that may attract infected animals.

Long before City Hall rats, L.A. has struggled with the rise of typhus

Typhus is often linked to unsanitary conditions and overcrowding, experts say. Animals including rats and cats carry the disease in their bodies, though it doesn’t make them ill. Fleas transmit the disease to humans by biting the infected animals and then biting humans, something that could become more common as more people live on the streets.

Los Angeles Is Dealing With an Outbreak of Flea-Borne Typhus

Both poverty and climate change, experts in vector-borne disease have warned, are sure to make diseases like typhus once again common throughout the U.S. Typhus is an old disease, with recorded accounts dating back to the 14th century. There are several forms of typhus, but all are caused by a group of bacteria known as Rickettsia.

Medieval Diseases Are Infecting California’s Homeless

Typhus, tuberculosis, and other illnesses are spreading quickly through camps and shelters.

Return of Medieval Diseases Feared in California

Why it is returning is the question. The outbreaks are more prevalent in overcrowded and trash-filled areas that attract rats. The disease has seen a reemergence in the homeless population of Los Angeles, officials say.

Typhus fever’s wild threat? The rat-faced opossum, named in health advisories as culprits in spreading the disease

When you think of animals carrying fleas, what comes to mind are dogs and cats, a problem that most responsible pet owners know all about. But an equal, yet lesser known threat is lurking in the wild and unbeknownst to homeowners, living under the floorboards or in the attic. We are talking about opossums.

Wealthy Los Angeles grapples with outbreak of typhus among its poorest

The likelihood that the average person would contract typhus – if they don’t have an indoor-outdoor pet or live in proximity to an animal with fleas – is vanishingly low. For the most part, it is the city’s very poorest, living under bridges or in tents, who bear the most risk.