Time and again, I have warned of the dangers associated with chronic homelessness in our nation’s cities. Metropolitan areas, such as my own city of San Francisco, have allowed the homeless to overrun the streets. Some saw my warnings as exaggerated, but we are now reaping the consequences of this neglect as we see in the city of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles county health officials are warning residents after several cases of flea-borne typhus have come to light. Typhus is closely linked to poor hygiene and overcrowding, and if left untreated, can cause severe organ damage.
“Although typhus normally occurs throughout L.A. County, we are observing several cases in the downtown Los Angeles area. We encourage pet owners to practice safe flea control and encourage all cities in the county to ensure maintenance of their trash cleanup and rodent control activities,” L.A. County health officer Dr. Muntu Davis told concerned citizens and reporters.
Typhus cannot be transmitted between humans. The CDC states that typhus occurs when fleas are infected with bacteria known as Rickettsia typhi or Rickettsia felis. Humans contract the disease from a flea bite or by rubbing infected flea feces into sores or cuts on the skin.
Wednesday on my national program The Savage Nation, I warned about the health threat the homeless population posed on our cities:
"I'm warning you, it's only going to take more and more of the so-called sheeple called liberals to be affected by the bums in the street until they wake up to the fact that they have created Frankenstein's monster. But worse than that I'm warning you what's coming. I've walked down the streets of San Francisco and I've seen bums picking lice off their clothing and their bodies. I walk to the other side of the street. Let me tell you what diseases are lurking in the streets of San Francisco between the lice, the human feces, and the rats, you have an incubator for a major epidemic. And once this epidemic breaks out, who are you going to blame? Those of us who said, ‘Round them up and give them the treatment that they so desperately need.’ Or are you going to blame yourself for being oh-so tolerant?"
I fear that this will not only affect Los Angeles but have far-reaching implications for homeless encampments all across America. Typhus may only be the beginning; could we witness an emergence of the plague in our lifetime? In the civilized West? We must stop these outbreaks and end this invasion to protect us and the homeless from themselves.
Look for Dr. Savage’s next column for what must be done to counter the homeless epidemic.
In bookstores October 9, pre-order "Stop Mass Hysteria: America's Insanity from the Salem Witch Trials to the Trump Witch."
In 2016, after 22 years on the air, Michael Savage was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, an honor he calls “the capstone of my life.” The Savage Nation, the country’s number one streaming radio show, is one of the top programs in America, with millions of listeners and broadcast on more than 230 stations, including WABC and KSFO. A prolific New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Savage has been profiled in Playboy and The New Yorker, and he has been awarded the Freedom of Speech Award by Talkers magazine. He received his PhD in epidemiology and nutrition sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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