We have been covering the spread of the flea-borne illness typhus through Pasadena and Los Angeles, which is the result of rat infestations that have followed in the wake of the homeless crisis.
Los Angeles city employees are now acting to combat the rodent problem in City Hall, after one of the administrators was stuck with the disease.
Los Angeles officials are potentially exploring ripping out all the carpet at City Hall amid reports of the building being overrun by rats and fleas as a typhus outbreak plagues the downtown area.Council President Herb Wesson, who filed the motion Wednesday and at one point moved his staff to another location over the rodent infestation, also asked officials to investigate the “scope and vermin of pest control issues.” He cited a case involving a city employee who possibly contracted the flea-borne illness while at work.“Employees shouldn’t have to come to work worried about rodents,” Wesson, who removed his own office’s carpet in November, told the Los Angeles Times. “I intend to do whatever it is we need.”
Wesson also asked for a review of all the live plants in City Hall to see if they may need to be removed, as well as a new policy for “employees to secure their food after hours and for custodial services to throw out food that’s left out.”
What will be the likely outcome? Unless the matter of homelessness is treated as the public health crisis it is, the situation will worsen. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is a board certified internist, explained that the current typhus outbreak will only get worse.
Pinsky bases his projection on the fact sanitation isn’t a priority for the mentally ill, who make up a significant portion of the homeless population.
Because the criteria for forcefully detaining people with these issues is notoriously difficult to satisfy, legions are left to suffer in the streets. Individuals stricken with physical illness, are picked up and hospitalized, but mental illness represents the great divide when it comes to mandatory treatment. Have we, as a society, forsaken this population?Are we content to stand by and allow civilization to deteriorate to the point where the “pillars of health” are pushed to their limits or even destroyed? This is not a problem that will solve itself; the homeless population has neither the ability nor the wherewithal to mobilize against it. The chronically ill must be given considerations that most of us do not require. Whether it’s expanding the conservatorship laws, forcefully treating people or implementing new systems altogether, action must be taken. Ignorance of this issue is short-sighted and potentially very dangerous to life as we know it.
One of my concerns is that if the City Hall has been infested, then what about the public schools in the region? The fatality rates can be up to 20%. It is one thing for bureaucrats who force social justice policies on the populace to be infected, but what about the children who might be exposed while in school?
The local populace is also questioning the priorities of city leadership.
Lie down with social justice politics, wake-up with flea-borne realities.
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