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Liz Greenwood does not want to return to City Hall until she has not been fumigated with rats and typhus-carrying fleas
Typhus, an infectious disease spread by fleas, is invading Los Angeles County, has contaminated a city hall prosecutor and more than 100 others.
Officials recorded 124 cases of the disease in the county last year, and there is no indication that the spread has dissipated.
The epidemic has been widely perceived as exclusively affecting homeless people.
But today, Deputy Attorney General, Liz Greenwood, revealed that she had been diagnosed in November – blaming fleas from her office at the Los Angeles City Hall.
And the symptoms described by Greenwood seemed unbearable.
"I had the impression that someone was holding me by the eyes and by the neck," Greenwood told NBC Los Angeles.
"Who catches typhus? It is a medieval disease caused by garbage.
She thinks the rats that nest in the garbage can of the building carry fleas that have transmitted the disease.
"There are rats at City Hall and City Hall is," Greenwood told NBC. "There are huge rats and their tails are as long as their bodies.
She has not yet resumed work and asks the city to fumigate the building before her arrival "because I thought I was going to die".
"It's a terrible disease and I would not wish anyone," she said, adding, "It's not just the homeless people who suffer from it."
WHAT IS TYPHUS?
Typhus is a bacterial disease that causes fever, headaches, rashes, muscle aches, fever and chills.
In severe cases, patients may require hospitalization because of hepatitis or internal bleeding.
It is caused by Rickettsia typhi bacteria and possibly Rickettsia felis, carried by fleas, lice, mites or ticks.
Parasites live on animals, especially wild and stray cats, rats and opossums, but do not make their host animals suffer.
Flea-borne typhus is endemic in parts of Los Angeles and Orange County.
The disease occurs as often in Texas and Hawaii.
About 200 cases occur each year in the United States, especially in coastal areas.
The bacteria spread when the feces of an infected insect contaminate a person's cut or graze while the insect sucks its blood.
If the person scratches the area of the bite, fecal bacteria can enter the bloodstream.
Bacteria can also be rubbed into the eyes or, in rare cases, inhaled.
The symptoms then appear six to 14 days later.
Typhus can be treated with antibiotics. Most people recover in a few days.
Between two and four percent of untreated people die in the world.
Typhus can be prevented by avoiding contact with fleas, mites, ticks and lice via:
- Discourage wild animals around the house
- Keep garbage covered
- Using Flea Control on Pets
MEDIEVAL DISEASE: O THE TYPHUS STARTED
The Typhus was first described in 1489 by the Spanish, when their soldiers began to develop symptoms during the war in Granada.
They lost 17,000 men because of typhus, nearly six times the number of combat deaths (3,000).
Then, information was reported, especially in dungeons and war zones.
The patients developed fevers, pimples, delirium and gangrene.
He killed 100,000 people in Ireland in the early 1800s.
It was recorded for the first time in the United States in the late nineteenth century, with an outbreak in Philadelphia in 1837.
In 1843, the son of President Franklin Pierce died of typhus.
During the civil war, it was called "Camp Fever", killing hundreds of thousands of people.
TODAY & # 39; HUI: HOW IT HAS BEEN CONTRACTED – AND WHY IT AGREES L.A.
Typhus can be treated with antibiotics. Most people recover in a few days.
Between two and four percent of untreated people die in the world.
Flea typhus occurs when the feces of an infected insect come into contact with a person's cut or rub their eyes.
These fleas often live on cats and wild rats that are attracted to the garbage areas on the streets.
The current outbreak of typhus fleas in LA County is particularly serious. Only 67 cases were recorded in 2017. And Pasadena and Long Beach have an average of five or six per year.
The authorities have failed to explain why typhus was spreading suddenly in the region, with nine cases recorded in downtown Los Angeles in the last two months. They study the problem.
Fever, chills, headaches, rashes and muscle aches are among the symptoms of typhus in men.
In rare cases, the infection can cause liver failure or be fatal – an estimated 2-4% of untreated patients die.
Typhus usually affects about 200 people in the United States each year, according to the California Department of Public Health (CRPD).
Health officials were alerted to the outbreak when a group of nine cases occurred in downtown Los Angeles between July and August.
The infection is endemic – frequently seen – in parts of Los Angeles and Orange County in southern California.
Greenwood thinks the rats that nest in the garbage of the building were carriers of fleas that transmitted the disease.
Fleas with infection can live on cats, rats or opossums, but the animals themselves do not suffer from symptoms.
Typhus often spreads to areas where there is an accumulation of litter that attracts wild animals.
The infection can not be transmitted from person to person and can be treated with antibiotics. There is no vaccine in the United States.
According to the CRPD, up to 4% of untreated people in the world die.
To prevent infections, the Los Angeles Public Health Department recommends that residents: Control pet fleas, put their pants in their socks or boots when they are outdoors and avoid wild or stray animals.
Texas experienced an outbreak of typhus transmitted by fleas at that time last year.
More than 400 cases occurred between the beginning of 2017 and the end of November – the highest number in 16 years.
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