CA: L.A. County Experiencing Flea-Borne Typhus Outbreak

[Shiloh]

Source: https://mynewsla.com/orange-county/2018/10/04/downtown-l-a-experiencing-flea-borne-typhus-outbreak/

Downtown L.A. Experiencing Flea-Borne Typhus Outbreak
Posted by Contributing Editor on October 4, 2018 in OC |


Downtown Los Angeles is experiencing an outbreak of flea-borne typhus, the county Department of Public Health announced Thursday.

?Although typhus normally occurs throughout L.A. County, we are observing several cases in the downtown Los Angeles area,? Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis said. ?We encourage pet owners to practice safe flea control and encourage all cities in the county to ensure maintenance of their trash clean-up and rodent control activities.?..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://abc7.com/health/flea-borne-typhus-disease-on-the-rise-in-dtla-pasadena/4419240/


Flea-borne typhus disease on the rise in DTLA, Pasadena
By ABC7.com staff
Updated 7 mins ago

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
Public health authorities are investigating an outbreak of flea-borne typhus in downtown Los Angeles and epidemic levels of the disease in Pasadena.

The disease is not uncommon in L.A. County but there has been a recent spike in cases in the downtown area, according to County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis.

The Pasadena Public Health Department also said in a press release Friday that it is reporting epidemic levels of typhus fever this year. So far, 20 Pasadena residents have been confirmed to have typhus fever, well above the expected one to five cases per year.

Typhus is a disease that can cause high fever, chills, headaches and rashes. It can be treated with antibiotics...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/flea-borne...l-are-disease-reaches-epidemic-levels-1159544

Flea-borne Typhus Outbreak Hits LA Area As Disease Reaches Epidemic Levels in Pasadena
By Aristos Georgiou On 10/9/18 at 7:58 AM

The Los Angeles area has been hit by an outbreak of flea-borne typhus, according to health authorities.

So far, 57 cases have been reported across L.A. County (LAC) in 2018, according to the local Department of Public Health (DPH). Twenty of these originated from the city of Pasadena, where the disease has reached ?epidemic? levels this year. Usually, Pasadena sees between one and five cases a year.

Meanwhile, nine cases were reported in the Downtown area between July and September, the LAC DPH said, all in patients who have a history of living or working there. Six of these patients have experienced homelessness or living in interim housing facilities in the area...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-typhus-willowbrook-20181012-story.html

New typhus cases reported in Willowbrook; officials expect additional outbreaks
typhus
Soumya Karlamangla
October 12, 2018

A week after announcing an outbreak of flea-borne typhus in downtown Los Angeles, health officials on Friday declared another outbreak of the illness ? this time in Willowbrook.

Four people have been diagnosed with typhus in the unincorporated community near South Los Angeles, three of whom were hospitalized, according to health officials.

Typhus outbreaks are often associated with poor hygiene and overcrowding. More people have been falling sick with typhus in Los Angeles County over the last decade, though experts are unsure why.

The latest cases bring the county total to at least 83 this year. There were five in all of 2008, according to the California Department of Public Health.

?We expect to continue to see clusters of flea-borne typhus throughout L.A. County,? health officials wrote in an alert to doctors on Friday....

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...angeles-county-surpasses-100-patients-n926496

Typhus outbreak in Los Angeles County surpasses 100 patients
Squalid conditions in the city's skid row area have created a 'typhus zone' where cases have cropped up.
Oct. 30, 2018 / 10:09 PM EDT
By Andrew Blankstein and Dennis Romero

The number of patients in Los Angeles' typhus outbreak has surpassed 100, according to figures compiled by NBC News.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Tuesday said there were 72 cases in its jurisdiction, which does not include the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health bureaucracies.

The latest figures for Long Beach and Pasadena obtained by NBC News, 15 and 20, respectively, bring L.A. county's total to at least 107 new typhus patients in 2018, more than half of what the entire nation usually observes in an entire year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

In the 2000s the number of patients diagnosed with typhus in Los Angeles county "did not exceed 20 cases per year," according to a county report...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://yovenice.com/2018/11/21/typ...pment-venice-officials-consider-flea-collars/


Typhus Outbreak Near DTLA Homeless Encampment, Venice Officials Consider Flea Collars
By Sam Catanzaro -
November 21, 2018

Los Angeles health officials are warning the public about a typhus epidemic, the flea-borne disease that results to fevers, headaches, chills and body aches, often leading to hospitalization.

According to a recent count by NBC 4, there are 107 cases in Los Angeles of typhus and with a recent outbreak near homeless encampments in the Skid Row area downtown, Venice residents are being warned to take caution...

...According to Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, there have not been reports of any clusters of typhus in Venice but the City is taking precautionary steps to prevent the spread of the disease to the area...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Typhus-Epidemic-Worsens-in-Los-Angeles-505166301.html

Typhus Epidemic Worsens in Los Angeles
A veteran city prosecutor is among the latest victims.
By Joel Grover and Amy Corral
Published Feb 1, 2019 at 9:53 AM | Updated at 9:59 AM PST on Feb 1, 2019

A veteran Los Angeles City Hall official is one of the latest victims of an epidemic of the infectious disease typhus that continues to worsen across LA County.

For months, LA County public health officials have said typhus is mainly hitting the homeless population.

But Deputy City Attorney Liz Greenwood, a veteran prosecutor, tells NBC4 she was diagnosed with typhus in November, after experiencing high fevers and excruciating headaches.

"It felt like somebody was driving railroad stakes through my eyes and out the back of my neck," Greenwood told the I-Team. "Who gets typhus? It's a medieval disease that's caused by trash."...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://mynewsla.com/business/2019/...precautions-on-typhus-health-department-says/

Public Needs to Take Precautions on Typhus, Health Department Says
Posted by Contributing Editor on February 7, 2019 in Business |

One day after the Los Angeles City Council president announced that all of the carpets at City Hall may need to be removed due to the high number of rodents and fleas in the building, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said Thursday that it is continuing to investigate the occurrence of flea-borne typhus and encouraged everyone to take steps to reduce their risk of infection.

?Flea-borne typhus is regularly found each year throughout Los Angeles County, and cases can cluster over periods of time in areas where environmental factors support wild animals that can harbor infected fleas,? said Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis. ?I appreciate how cities have expanded trash clean-up and rodent control activities, and I continue to encourage all cities in Los Angeles County to continue those actions. I recommend that pet owners practice safe flea control as well.?...

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Public Needs to Take Precautions on Typhus, Health Department Says
Posted by Contributing Editor on February 7, 2019 in Business | 34 Views | Leave a response
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One day after the Los Angeles City Council president announced that all of the carpets at City Hall may need to be removed due to the high number of rodents and fleas in the building, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said Thursday that it is continuing to investigate the occurrence of flea-borne typhus and encouraged everyone to take steps to reduce their risk of infection.

?Flea-borne typhus is regularly found each year throughout Los Angeles County, and cases can cluster over periods of time in areas where environmental factors support wild animals that can harbor infected fleas,? said Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis. ?I appreciate how cities have expanded trash clean-up and rodent control activities, and I continue to encourage all cities in Los Angeles County to continue those actions. I recommend that pet owners practice safe flea control as well.?

Typhus is not transmitted person-to-person, and flea-borne typhus can spread to people from infected fleas and their feces.

Health officials in October announced there was a typhus outbreak in Los Angeles County, including in the downtown area that includes Skid Row, where an estimated 2,000 homeless people sleep.

From 2013-2017, the average number of reported cases in the county of flea-borne typhus doubled to nearly 60 cases per year, and from 2018 to date, there have been a total of 107 documented cases of flea-borne typhus, the Department of Public Health said.

Since October, there has been a total of 19 documented cases in downtown Los Angeles, with eight out of 19 in people experiencing homelessness, the department said.

One of the cases is a City Hall East employee who told NBC4 she is convinced she contracted typhus in November through contact with fleas in her office...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-typhus-20190217-story.html

Long before City Hall rats, L.A. has struggled with the rise of typhus
By Soumya Karlamangla
Feb 17, 2019 | 3:00 AM

Los Angeles officials this month called for an investigation into a vermin infestation at City Hall, after at least one city employee was diagnosed with typhus, a disease spread by rodents.

The rat problem has focused attention on typhus over the last several weeks. But cases of the disease have actually been increasing in California for more than a decade.

Thirteen people in the state were diagnosed with typhus in 2008, compared with 167 last year. More than 95% of the people falling sick in California are in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to state health data...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://nypost.com/2019/05/22/mountains-of-trash-in-la-could-cause-bubonic-plague-outbreak-expert/



Mountains of trash in LA could cause bubonic plague outbreak: expert
By Ann W. Schmidt, Fox News
May 22, 2019 | 11:59am

Trash is a growing problem for residents in Los Angeles and as the garbage piles up, so do the rats, fueling concerns about flea-borne typhus, according to reports.

Last October, after at least nine reports of the disease, Los Angeles officials cleaned up some of the worst piles of garbage, NBC Los Angeles reported. But now, the trash has accumulated once again.

?I can?t walk down the street without thinking that a flea could jump on me,? Estela Lopez, executive director of the LA Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, told the outlet.

It could reportedly take up to 90 days for the trash to be removed once again, according to NBC Los Angeles. The outlet also reported that the city has no plan for controlling its rodent population.

All that garbage attracts rats, which ?pose a public health risk,? an infectious disease specialist told the outlet, because the rodents can lead to the spread of salmonella and bubonic plague ? not to mention fleas that have been infected with typhus.

At least nine people were reported ill with typhus in downtown Los Angeles between July and September, with officials pointing to refuse and stray animals as potential catalysts, according to reports from October...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...eases-lurk-LA-124-cases-Typhus-confirmed.html




Medieval diseases lurk in LA: 124 cases of Typhus are confirmed amid fears bubonic plague is infecting homeless on filthy streets

Homelessness in Los Angeles increased by 16 per cent in years 2018-19
The explosion of new people has caused sanitation difficulties, attracting rats
Typhus travels on fleas from infected rats, cats and opossums to humans
Symptoms are nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach pain and rashes
Fears the filthiness of LA streets could bring back medieval ailment the Plague

By Ryan Fahey For Mailonline
Published: 11:39 EDT, 20 August 2019 | Updated: 12:41 EDT, 20 August 2019

An explosion of rats in Los Angeles has lead to a surge in cases of Typhus and could pave the way for a public health crisis.

According to Reform California, there have been 124 confirmed cases of Typhus in LA County this year.

On top of the increase in Typhus cases, experts fear the return of a disease that wiped out a third of Europe in the 12th century, the Bubonic Plague...