Typhus in Los Angles

why? Because no one is cleaning up the garbage:

Last year set a new record for the number of typhus cases — 124 in LA County for the year, according to the California Department of Public Health.Last October, Mayor Garcetti vowed to clean up piles of garbage throughout the city to combat the typhus epidemic.
The Mayor allocated millions of dollars to increase clean-ups of streets in the Skid Row area, known lately as "the typhus zone."
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But four months later, the I-Team documented huge piles of garbage just outside the "typhus zone."
"You can't solve it (the typhus epidemic) until you hit the cause," says Estela Lopez of the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, "and the cause of it is that you still have these mountains of trash."

(Published Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018)
from the CDC:

not just fleas from rats, but also cat fleas:

The key to preventing flea-borne typhus is to avoid direct contact with fleas. Use flea control products on pet dogs or cats, and keep cats indoors. Prevent rats, opossums, feral cats, and other wild animals from visiting or living around your home:

• Do not leave pet food outside

• Keep garbage containers tightly covered

• Trim and remove plants around buildings

not good news for cat ladies in LA...

this is from last October, and it sounds like the city hasn't done much to stop the epidemic:

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ah but how do you get rid of fleas in the homeless? Well, in 1944, the US Army used DDT.


but then, the military is aware of how diseases can affect people:

The fleas killed more of Napoleon's Army than the Russian cannons.