Filth from homeless camps is luring rats to L.A. City Hall, report says - Los Angeles Times

Filth from homeless camps is luring rats to L.A. City Hall, report says - Los Angeles Times: A pest control firm hired by the city recommended clearing away several homeless encampments in the Civic Center to help fix the rat infestation at City Hall.

The LAPD said one of its employees at the station has contracted the strain of bacteria that causes typhoid fever, although it’s unclear how the worker became ill.

County health officials also declared a typhus outbreak last year in downtown L.A. and one Los Angeles city employee, Deputy City Atty. Elizabeth Greenwood, has filed a $5-million legal claim against the city, saying she contracted typhus while working in her office at City Hall East.

Greenwood said she believes she contracted the disease from a flea. Typhus can be spread to humans through flea bites or contact with the feces of infected fleas; its symptoms include a rash, fever and fatigue.