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Health officials are\u00a0warning<\/a>\u00a0residents to take precautions, including keeping pets up to date on flea medication, after a record number of flea-borne typhus cases were reported in Los Angeles County over the past year.<\/p>\n The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said 220 flea-borne typhus cases were reported in the county in 2025, the highest on record. The department investigated three outbreaks in 2025, including one in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The county health department\u2019s report indicates that California also had the\u00a0highest number<\/a> of flea-borne typhus cases in the modern era at 277. (The California Department of Public Health, whose\u00a0Jan. 21 report noted that LA County had 165 flea-borne typhus cases in 2025, has not confirmed this number.)\u00a0That\u2019s more than double the number from 2016 when counting suspect, probable and confirmed cases. Mandatory electronic reporting for the disease\u00a0started<\/a> in 2011, and the vast majority of cases in California are usually reported in Los Angeles and Orange counties.<\/p>\n Typhus is a disease caused by the Rickettsia typhi\u00a0bacteria and results in fever, chills, headache and a cough, along with a distinctive spotted rash called a petechial rash.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bacteria is spread when infected fleas bite a person. As these fleas bite, they defecate, and when a person scratches the bite, flea feces can enter the bloodstream. LA county health officials said the fleas can spread from stray animals, as well as from rodents and opossums in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFlea-borne typhus can cause serious illness, but it is preventable with simple steps,\u201d Dr. Muntu Davis, who is the Los Angeles County health officer, said in a statement. \u201cWith cases at an all-time high and most requiring hospitalization, it\u2019s critical that people take simple steps now, such as routinely using flea control on their pets, avoiding contact with stray animals, and preventing wildlife from living in or around their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A scanning electron micrograph of the Rickettsia\u00a0typhi bacteria.<\/p>\n BSIP\/Universal Images Group\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Shannon Bennett,<\/a>\u00a0the chief of science and a microbiology curator at the California Academy of Sciences, said the disease has been around for centuries and is \u201cas old as the plague.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always a little disconcerting to be hit with an old, emerging infectious disease,\u201d she told\u00a0SFGATE, saying she\u2019s concerned that people\u2019s hygiene and living conditions could leave them at risk.<\/p>\n Bennett said a changing climate with warmer temperatures may help flea populations increase, which can lead to the spread of typhus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll help drive the flea population up, and it\u2019ll increase their own developmental life cycles,\u201d she said of warmer weather. She also said that as people encroach on wildlife areas, there\u2019s more of a chance for these diseases to spread from animals to people.<\/p>\n Typhus can be treated with antibiotics, and deaths are rare, accounting for less than 1%<\/a> of cases. But the disease is serious, and LA health officials noted that 90% of those with the disease end up needing to be hospitalized.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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