Multiple officers serving with the Los Angeles Police Department were diagnosed this week with Typhus and other diseases related to the city’s exploding rat population.
“An officer at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Station has contracted Salmonella Typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, and another is suspected of contracting typhus, a disease carried by rats and fleas, the LAPD told the I-Team Wednesday,” reports NBC Los Angeles.
“Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Typhoid fever is rare in industrialized countries like the United States, per the CDC,” adds the article.
CALIFORNIA CRISIS: Los Angeles ‘Rotting Trash Piles’ Now ‘Sky-High,’ Experts Warn of ‘New Epidemic’
Los Angeles continued its ongoing struggle with rampant homelessness and crumbling infrastructure this week, with residents complaining of “rotting trash piles” that are attacking rats and posing a major risk to the health of residents and tourists.
“Rat-infested piles of rotting garbage left uncollected by the city of Los Angeles, even after promises to clean it up, are fueling concerns about a new epidemic after last year’s record number of flea-borne typhus cases,” reports NBC Los Angeles.
“Even the city’s most notorious trash pile, located between downtown LA’s busy Fashion and Produce districts, continues to be a magnet for rats after it was cleaned up months ago. The rodents can carry typhus-infected fleas, which can spread the disease to humans through bacteria rubbed into the eyes or cuts and scrapes on the skin, resulting in severe flu-like symptoms,” adds the article.
CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’: Gov. Newsom SUES Upscale City over ‘Lack of Affordable Housing’
Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week his plans to sue an upscale California city after they refused to construct a certain amount of “affordable housing” within its limits; accusing the local government of “standing in the way” and escalating the regions’ homeless crisis.
Newsom’s administration is poised to sue Huntington Beach, a wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of Los Angeles; claiming they’re “standing in the way of affordable housing production and refusing to meet regional housing needs.”
“The suit, the first of its kind under a state law passed last year, will seek to require the city to amend its housing plan for the building of more units accessible to people of all income levels, according to the governor’s office,” writes the Wall Street Journal.
“The state doesn’t take this action lightly,” said the governor. “The huge housing costs and sky-high rents are eroding quality of life for families across this state.”
Read the full report at the Wall Street Journal.