Flea-borne typhus outbreak confirmed in Wilshire Center as LA County cases keep climbing

Seven people sickened and six hospitalized in the county's second neighborhood typhus cluster of 2026. Health officials say the risk reaches well beyond Koreatown.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County health officials are investigating an outbreak of flea-borne typhus in Wilshire Center, the dense Mid-Wilshire neighborhood that overlaps Koreatown, after seven people with symptoms were linked to the cluster.

Six of the seven were hospitalized. All have recovered, the Department of Public Health said when it announced the outbreak on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

It is the second flea-borne typhus outbreak the department has reported this year. The first, announced July 29, involved five people in nearby Pico-Union; all five were hospitalized and later recovered.

Countywide, Public Health has counted 109 typhus cases so far in 2026. As of Friday, Sept. 25, the department had not announced any additional cases tied to the Wilshire Center cluster.

As flea-borne typhus cases continue to increase across Los Angeles County, preventing exposure to fleas on free roaming animals and wildlife is more important than ever. Community members can help protect themselves and their neighbors by keeping pets on flea control year-round, rodent proofing their homes and making sure wildlife cannot live in or around their homes. Simple steps can prevent serious illness.
— Dr. Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County Health Officer

Two clusters, one message

Both 2026 outbreaks sit in older, tightly packed neighborhoods just west of downtown. But Public Health went out of its way to say the disease is not confined to one part of town, or to one kind of resident.

“Although this and the other cluster center in one neighborhood, the risk of flea-borne typhus is countywide, and cases occur across the county and among people with a range of housing and socioeconomic circumstances.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

The department did not identify specific buildings or blocks, the patients' ages, or how each person was likely exposed. It said people are usually exposed in and around their own homes, when infected fleas are carried indoors by pets or other animals.

The county's typhus information page adds some context: while the rise in cases has been widespread, the localized clusters and outbreaks identified so far have been mainly in Central and South Los Angeles. Cases occur all year but tend to peak in late summer and fall, which means the county is heading into the busiest stretch now.

How people get sick

Flea-borne typhus is a bacterial infection caused by Rickettsia typhi. In Los Angeles County, the fleas that carry it are commonly found on rats, free-roaming cats and opossums. A pet that spends time outdoors can pick up those fleas and bring them into the house.

The bite itself is usually not the problem. People become infected when flea dirt, which is flea feces, gets into a cut or scrape or is rubbed into the eyes. The disease does not spread from person to person. Animals carrying infected fleas typically look healthy, which is one reason people often don't realize they have been exposed.

Symptoms generally show up one to two weeks after infection and can include fever, chills, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting and a rash. Typhus responds to antibiotics, and Public Health says early diagnosis helps prevent severe illness and hospital stays.

That matters. When the department announced the Pico-Union cluster in July, it said nearly nine out of 10 people diagnosed with flea-borne typhus in 2025 needed to be hospitalized.

A record year, and a steady climb

Typhus cases have been rising in the county since 2010, according to Public Health. In 2025 the department recorded 220 cases, the most ever in the county, up from 187 in 2024. Last year's patients ranged in age from 1 to 85, which the department said shows that people of every age group are at risk.

The department has not said how this year's 109 cases compare with the same point in 2025, so it is too early to say whether 2026 will break last year's record. What officials have said, in both the July and September announcements, is that cases continue to rise.

What it means for the rest of LA County

For readers in the South Bay, along the 105 corridor and in the Gateway Cities, a cluster in Wilshire Center can sound like somebody else's problem. Public Health's own framing says otherwise. The animals that carry infected fleas — rats, stray and outdoor cats, opossums — live in suburban backyards, alleys and crawl spaces as well as in dense apartment districts. Any pet that spends its days in the yard can carry their fleas indoors.

The risk factors the county lists are ordinary ones: pet food left outside, trash cans without tight lids, overgrown brush, open crawl spaces, and people feeding or handling free-roaming animals. Those exist in every city in the county, from Downey to Hawthorne to Norwalk.

One note for readers in Long Beach and Pasadena: both cities run their own health departments, so local guidance and case reporting there come from city officials rather than the county.

What to know / what to do

• The outbreak: 7 cases in Wilshire Center, 6 hospitalized, all recovered (announced Sept. 22).
• Countywide: 109 cases so far in 2026; a record 220 in 2025.
• Use flea control on pets year-round and keep pets indoors as much as possible.
• Outdoors, use an EPA-registered insect repellent labeled for fleas.
• Never leave pet food outside, and don't feed or touch free-roaming animals.
• Keep trash in containers with tight-fitting lids; clear debris and trim overgrown plants.
• Close off crawl spaces and seal openings where animals can get in, hide or find food.
• Report stray animals or opossums near your property to local animal control.
• See a doctor promptly for fever, chills, headache, body aches or rash, especially after contact with fleas or animals and mention the possible exposure.

More information: ph.lacounty.gov/Typhus
Public Health InfoLine (to find a clinic or doctor): 1-833-540-0473, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily

Bottom line

Seven cases in one neighborhood is a small number, and everyone in this cluster recovered. But it is the second neighborhood outbreak in two months, it follows the worst typhus year on record, and the county's 2025 figures show nearly nine in 10 diagnosed patients ended up in the hospital. The prevention steps are cheap and simple, and they apply well beyond Koreatown.

Sources

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, “Public Health Reports Outbreak of Flea-Borne Typhus,” Sept. 22, 2026: lacounty.gov
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Pico-Union outbreak announcement, July 29, 2026: lacounty.gov
• LA County Acute Communicable Disease Control, flea-borne typhus data and information: publichealth.lacounty.gov
• LAist, “Flea-borne typhus outbreak reported in Koreatown as cases in LA County rise,” Sept. 23, 2026: laist.com
• FOX 11 Los Angeles, “Flea-borne typhus outbreak under investigation in Wilshire Center after 7 people get sick,” Sept. 22, 2026: foxla.com

Cover image: Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis), a known carrier of flea-borne typhus. Photo: CDC/Dr. Pratt, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.