Rats are spreading typhus in L.A.: Report
County officials say 90% of typhus patients were hospitalized last year as rat infestations and trash buildup fuel a record outbreak.
- Los Angeles officials announced a flea-borne typhus outbreak last week in the Pico-Union neighborhood, where five people have been hospitalized this year. The disease spreads when infected fleas from rats bite humans.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom signed A.B. 1788 and A.B. 2552, restricting anticoagulant rat poisons to protect wildlife; these restrictions have made urban pest control significantly more difficult. Trash-filled streets and homelessness have compounded the spread.
- Orkin named Los Angeles the nation's "rattiest city," noting rats have become increasingly aggressive. Resident Greenwood was diagnosed with typhus after suffering a 102-degree fever, describing the pain as "railroad stakes through my eyes."
- Since 2009, flea-borne typhus cases in Los Angeles County have surged by 2,300 percent, reaching 220 cases in 2025. Local public-health officials reported that 90 percent of typhus patients required hospitalization last year.
- Pest control expert Quinn warns that when cities fail to provide basic sanitation, private pest control becomes ineffective against widespread infestation. This systemic failure leaves residents vulnerable as rats thrive from Skid Row to Koreatown.
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8 Articles
Rats are spreading typhus in L.A. There’s an anti-rat poison bill in Vermont Legislature
Los Angeles is becoming overrun with rats and is experiencing a growing rate of typhus disease due in part to restrictions on rat poison, City Journal reports. Two bills restricting the use of certain types of rat poison were introduced in the Vermont Legislature last session.
POLITICS: The typhus rats: Why a medieval disease is rocking LA
Rats, and the fleas that live on them, can be carriers of deadly diseases — including typhus, a bacteria-borne, fever-like illness that is rocking LA. Since 2009, the number of flea-borne typhus cases in LA has increased by a staggering 2,300%. Last year, the county recorded more cases than at any point in its history. Some patients have died. Behind the scenes, the authorities responsible for protecting the public admit that they lack the resou…
City Journal
The Typhus Rats of Los Angeles
A medieval disease is rocking the vermin-ridden county.
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