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Source: https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/01...t-berkeley-bhu
Leptospirosis outbreak detected near Eighth and Harrison encampment
Berkeley has been trying to sweep the encampment for years. A homeless advocacy group has sued the city, alleging it has shirked its responsibility to provide disability accommodations for residents.
by Alex N. Gecan Jan. 13, 2026, 5:53 p.m.
Berkeley’s public health officer says people and pets in Northwest Berkeley are at risk from an outbreak of leptospirosis that has circulated among dogs and rats at the longstanding encampment of tents, RVs and other shelters around Eighth and Harrison streets.
Veterinarians found leptospirosis in two dogs living in the camp in November, so county health workers began trapping and testing rats living in the area, according to a notice posted Monday by Dr. Noemi Doohan, Berkeley’s public health officer. Those tests found the bacterium in rats for the first time anywhere in Alameda County in the last five years, Doohan said.
Berkeley officials have long wanted to remove the encampment, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked the city from ousting a few of the camp’s residents since June, pending the resolutions of their disability accommodations claims — a process that has missed deadline after deadline. Theoretically the city is free to evict other campers, but city health officials and attorneys say that unless the entire camp leaves for at least 30 days, health workers cannot fully eradicate the rat burrows in the area, meaning the outbreak will persist...
Leptospirosis outbreak detected near Eighth and Harrison encampment
Berkeley has been trying to sweep the encampment for years. A homeless advocacy group has sued the city, alleging it has shirked its responsibility to provide disability accommodations for residents.
by Alex N. Gecan Jan. 13, 2026, 5:53 p.m.
Berkeley’s public health officer says people and pets in Northwest Berkeley are at risk from an outbreak of leptospirosis that has circulated among dogs and rats at the longstanding encampment of tents, RVs and other shelters around Eighth and Harrison streets.
Veterinarians found leptospirosis in two dogs living in the camp in November, so county health workers began trapping and testing rats living in the area, according to a notice posted Monday by Dr. Noemi Doohan, Berkeley’s public health officer. Those tests found the bacterium in rats for the first time anywhere in Alameda County in the last five years, Doohan said.
Berkeley officials have long wanted to remove the encampment, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked the city from ousting a few of the camp’s residents since June, pending the resolutions of their disability accommodations claims — a process that has missed deadline after deadline. Theoretically the city is free to evict other campers, but city health officials and attorneys say that unless the entire camp leaves for at least 30 days, health workers cannot fully eradicate the rat burrows in the area, meaning the outbreak will persist...
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