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A Los Angeles police detective has been diagnosed with typhoid fever, a rare disease usually transmitted by contaminated food or water, and at least five other agents working in the same station have symptoms, have said Thursday union officials.
The six officers work at the Central Division post, where a state investigation into unsafe and unhealthy working conditions resulted in penalties and a fine of over $ 5,000 earlier this month, according to reports. documents.
The division is monitoring downtown Los Angeles, including the notorious Skid Row area, where hundreds of homeless people are camping in the streets. The police union says that homeless camps need to be cleaned up following recent diagnosis and other cases of hepatitis A virus and staph infection.
"The last thing I need is that my members who come to work fear getting an infectious disease and bringing it home," said Robert Harris, treasurer of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
The union also called for better protection equipment for the officers and asked that the station be cleaned up regularly.
The police department said that the exposed areas of the central division were being disinfected and that officials were reviewing the state's "worrying" report that revealed violations of the health of the government. police.
The building did not have an effective extermination program and included "rats / rodents, fleas, roaches, flies, midges, mosquitoes and grbadhoppers", according to the May 14th report. the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
According to the Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, typhoid fever is not common in the United States but affects 22 million people a year in other countries.
It is different from typhus, which can spread from infected fleas and cause an epidemic earlier this year that makes homeless people living near the town hall and a city lawyer ill.
Dr. Abinash Virk, Infectious Disease Specialist at the Mayo Clinic, said it was likely that the agents were contaminated with contaminated food or beverages from the same cafeteria or restaurant.
She stated that homeless people might have a slightly higher risk of typhoid fever than others due to limited access to clean bathrooms or immigrants from countries where the The disease is more prevalent, but she doubted the police became ill with the work at Skid Row.
"You will not get it just by shaking your hand," she says.
Dustin DeRollo, a spokesman for the union, said the officers who patrolled Skid Row "scour the dung, urine and garbage" – conditions that "should alarm everyone and that he must be remedied. "
The LAPD reported only confirmed cases of typhoid fever and two other officers had symptoms similar to typhoid. The union reports that five officers have symptoms.
"Whether it is bad plumbing or anything else, the mayor is working with the ministry to shed light on this situation and will take all possible measures to protect the health and safety of all our employees, "said Alex Comisar, spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said in a statement.
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