[ad_1]
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles County Board of Trustees decided on Tuesday to conduct a program to aggressively fight typhus in homeless camps by coordinating street cleaning, housing deals and , for those who insist, hand sanitizer and flea repellent for people and pets.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger stated that she did not want to be alarmist, but that she was troubled by what she saw in the 5th district that she represents, which is why she is not. extends from the valleys of Antelope, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel to the foothills of Pasadena and Glendale.
"When I go through parts of my district and see the living conditions on the street, it reminds me of a third world country," Barger said. "We provide showers and they always stay in filthy conditions."
The county is already seeking to provide services and housing for people living in homeless camps, but these efforts are not always closely coordinated with street cleaning to control garbage, sewers and the rat population.
A recent downtown typhus epidemic and an epidemic number of cases in Pasadena, as well as a wave of cases in Long Beach and Willowbrook, led Barger to ask for mobile triage teams, including treatment agencies municipal waste and animals, health workers and housing providers.
Barger recommended implementing a public health housing pilot project to identify areas of increased risk of typhus and other communicable diseases and mobilize all available resources.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl initially said she was concerned that some city sanitation agencies "essentially sweep the homeless and their belongings on the street" but voted in favor. for a collaborative pilot project.
Public Health Department Director Barbara Ferrer assured the public that typhus was not new in Los Angeles County or unique to homeless residents.
"Flea-borne typhus is endemic to southern California," said Ferrer, which means the department still sees cases.
But those who contract the disease in the street are at greater risk as it is harder to avoid fleas when they live outside, Ferrer said.
Barger said the Skid Row rats were not afraid of humans and lived among the homeless instead of fleeing. Fleas carried by rats, opossums and wild cats spread the disease, which can not be transmitted from person to person.
The cases reported by DPH so far this year total 64 cases, compared to 67 cases in 2017. This does not include cases at Long Beach or Pasadena, which run county-independent health agencies.
Pasadena has been disproportionately affected, confirming 20 cases of typhus to date in 2018, compared to one to five cases per year. Long Beach has more than doubled its historical case rate, with a total of 13 reported to date.
At least nine of Los Angeles County cases occurred in downtown Los Angeles, all of them homeless people who were hospitalized.
Rats, cats and opossums show no symptoms of typhus infection. However, typhus can cause high fever, chills, headaches and skin rashes and, if not treated with antibiotics, can also result in hospitalization and, in rare cases, death.
In addition to avoiding any contact and preventing fleas from getting into pets, residents should keep trash cans well closed to discourage wild and stray animals.
To help prevent typhus, the ministry recommended that residents:
- practice flea control safely;
- use flea control products on pets;
- wear pants in socks or boots when you are outdoors and spray DEET on the insect repellent on the socks and lapels of the pants;
- avoid approaching wild or stray animals;
- never feed or touch wild animals, especially opossums, rats and stray or wild cats;
- store waste in cans with secure lids to avoid attracting animals;
- clean up areas where rats and stray animals sleep, hide or find food, such as crawl spaces, attics or under bridges; and
- Wear gloves and a mask when cleaning such areas and wash your hands when done.
By ELIZABETH MARCELLINO, Press Service of the city; (Photo of CSIRO via Getty Images)
Receive the Los Angeles newsletter
[ad_2]
Source link
