The Plagues of California

California has had quite a few outbreaks of infectious disease. Hepatitis, Trench fever, Salmonella, Typhus, and now Typhoid.

No, don't blame the Central American immigrants, or even the gang problem (both migrants and local), unless you want to notice that the drug epidemic made worse by poor border security is causing more addiction and hence more homelessness.

This is basic public health, and someone should be ashamed.

Jordan Peterson said :make your bed (before you decide to change the world): well, maybe California should start cleaning up the trash and resettling the homeless by force.


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that is typhoid, which is spread by contact, feces in the environment, contaminated water or food, either by being washed with contaminated water or because the food handler who might be sick or an asymptomatic carrier didn't decontaminate his or her hands.. Think "Typhoid Mary". 

In contrast earlier reports were of Typhus, spread by fleas of rats.

the NewAmerican has a recent article on the trash problem in Los Angeles, and the Typhus epidemic.

Typhus is a disease born of filth, most commonly spread by contact with the feces of fleas. It is most often reported in the third world or places such as POW camps where hygiene is of little concern. Last year, Los Angeles County reported a record 124 confirmed cases of the disease, 

the Atlantic article (March2019) about the problem in Los Angeles among the homeless.

Public-health officials and politicians are using terms like disaster and public-health crisis to describe the outbreaks, and they are warning that these diseases can easily jump beyond the homeless population. “Our homeless crisis is increasingly becoming a public-health crisis,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State speech in February, citing outbreaks of hepatitis A in San Diego County, syphilis in Sonoma County, and typhus in Los Angeles County. “Typhus,” he said. “A medieval disease. In California. In 2019.”.....

and this could get worse: Bubonic plague could be next.

NPR article from August 2018. notes the trash and garbage on the streets of San Francisco.

this is not a new problem, but it is getting worse. 

The harbinger was a hepatitis outbreak in San Diego that started in 2016.

Medical journal Article about the Hepatitis outbreak in SanDiego 

The hepatitis A outbreak affected 588 individuals...

The health department initiated an extensive public vaccination and education campaign, distributed hygiene kits, deployed portable bathroom and hand washing and declared a local public health emergency. Due to the extensive public health campaign, the outbreak seems to be under control as of January 2018.

A similar article in the WAPO  in 2017, explains how "power spraying" with bleach and other basic public health hygiene methods were being used to control the disease.

These things can be controlled, but it takes people who are willing to make it a priority.

and you know, asking people to clean up outside their own buildings and homes might help too.

Ah, but in California, they have other priorities : California banned Plastic straws.

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a slightly longer version of this was posted to my medical blog.