In Los Angeles, an outbreak of typhus: an employee of the City Hall is ill

In Los Angeles, it is not the first time that a typhus outbreak has been recorded, and the situation is getting worse. Earlier, the authorities claimed that the disease mostly affects the homeless, but one of the last victims was a woman working in the city hall who told about her experience.

Фото: Depositphotos

Deputy city attorney Liz Greenwood told reporters that in November, after several days of severe fever and agonizing headaches, she was diagnosed with typhus, writes NBC Los Angeles.

“It felt like someone was sticking railroad tracks into my eyes and the back of my neck,” the woman said. - Who gets typhus anyway? This is a medieval disease caused by garbage!

Greenwood believes she became ill because of fleas she found in her City Hall East office. Fleas often live on rats, which cluster among the mountains of garbage that are clearly visible throughout the city. It is garbage that provides a breeding ground for disease carriers.

“There are rats in City Hall,” Greenwood added. “They are huge rats, and their tails are as long as their bodies.”

Last year set a new record for typhus cases with 124 in Los Angeles County in one year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Last October, Mayor Garcetti promised to remove piles of garbage throughout the city to stop the spread of the outbreak. The mayor has allocated millions of dollars to clean up the streets in the Skid Row area, known as the “typhoid zone”. But four months later, trash heaps are still everywhere.

"You can't solve the typhoid problem until you find the cause," said Estela Lopez of the downtown Industrial Business Improvement Center, "and the reason is these mountains of garbage are still here."

Greenwood admits: “This is a terrible disease, I would not wish anyone. But not only the homeless are infected with typhus. ”

Фото: Depositphotos

She believes that the city should sanitize both town halls to protect thousands of workers and visitors who may be at risk of typhoid. Earlier, the city authorities have already processed the office of the Central Police Department and part of the Los Angeles Police Headquarters.

Greenwood says he does not want to go back to work until the entire building is spared from fleas carrying typhus.

“I’m worried about returning to work and I’m afraid of contracting the same infection: I thought I was going to die,” the woman admitted.

The mayor’s office said that since last fall, city departments have been making “coordinated and comprehensive efforts” to improve the sanitation of the city and protect public health everywhere, including city halls. Also, according to the statement, “aggressive actions” were taken to control pests and pollution.

How does typhus occur?

According to Wikipedia, the onset of the disease is sudden and is characterized by chills, fever, constant headache, back pain. After a few days, a patchy pink rash appears on the skin, first in the abdomen. Consciousness of the patient is inhibited (up to a coma), patients are disoriented in time and space, their speech is hurried and disjointed. The temperature is constantly raised to 40 ° C and drops sharply in about two weeks.

The disease can provoke the development of serious complications. Before the introduction of antibiotics, the prognosis was unfavorable, many patients died. Now the prognosis is favorable even in severe cases of the disease - there are practically no deaths with proper treatment.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Measles emergency declared in Washington

New York suffers largest measles outbreak in decades

In the US, preparing for the outbreak of mysterious polio, paralyzing children

In Russia, warned about the outbreak of a deadly virus infection in the US

There is another outbreak of salmonellosis in the USA - tons of beef are being recalled

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.