Rat-Infested Mountains of Rotting Garbage Are Piling up in Los Angeles — and May Spur Disease Epidemic

By The Blaze. Mountains of rat-infested uncollected garbage are piling up in Los Angeles and experts are afraid that they may spur on an epidemic of disease that could have been prevented.

The trash has been abandoned by the city and attracts rats that can carry fleas and spread diseases like typhus.

A report from NBC4-Los Angeles found that the business owners and residents are angry at the city for allowing the garbage to worsen and threaten their health.

“I can’t walk down the street without thinking that a flea could jump on me,” said Estela Lopez, a local business leader.

One study found that Los Angeles is the second most rat-infested city in the country, with New York lagging behind in third place, but Chicago coming out on top with a first-place finish. (Read more from “Rat-Infested Mountains of Rotting Garbage Are Piling up in Los Angeles — and May Spur Disease Epidemic” HERE)

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Rotting Trash Piles Sky-High in LA, Attracting Rats and Raising Concerns of a New Epidemic

By NBC Washington. An out-of-control rat population can even lead to the spread of dangerous strains of salmonella and bubonic plague, he noted.

Other large U.S. cities, like New York and Washington DC, have teams devoted to aggressive rat control. In the nation’s capital, they’re experimenting with bait stations laced with a rat contraceptive.

But in Los Angeles, the I-Team learned there is no plan or program to control the growing rat population that feasts at trash piles like the one on Ceres Avenue.

“It’s something that we’ll look into,” said Pepe Garica, of Los Angeles’ bureau of sanitation.

Rats carrying typhus-infected fleas were found around LA last fall, according to county health department records obtained by the I-Team. The agency did not provide details about where the fleas were found, saying that information would cause confusion and unnecessary alarm, but the I-Team discovered that typhus-infected fleas were found on animals waiting to be adopted at the North Central Animal Shelter. (Read more from “Rotting Trash Piles Sky-High in LA, Attracting Rats and Raising Concerns of a New Epidemic” HERE)

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