Health officials report record number of potentially fatal typhus cases: 'Everyone is at risk'

Officials in Los Angeles County have warned residents that typhus, a serious and potentially fatal flea-borne illness, is surging, according to the Los Angeles Times.

What's happening?

On April 2, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a bulletin to alert residents to "a record number of flea-borne typhus cases" in the area.

The Department reported that 2025 had the "highest-ever recorded" number of cases, up nearly 20% from 187 cases in 2024.

According to the Los Angeles Times, typhus rates have been rising in Los Angeles County. There were 141 reported infections in 2021, 171 in 2022, and a "slight decrease" in 2023.

"Alarmingly, nearly 9 out of 10 people identified as infected with typhus required hospitalization," the Department of Health cautioned in its bulletin, emphasizing the severity of the flea-borne illness and an urgent need for public awareness.

Moreover, the Times described a worryingly broad public health threat that affected individuals aged 1 to 85 in 2025.

"Everyone is at risk of contracting typhus," the outlet explained, adding that proximity to "rats or other rodents" and outdoor living placed some residents at a higher risk of contracting the disease.

Why is this concerning?

"An ancient disease spread by fleas has been making a comeback in California," Gizmodo reported, alluding to the fact that typhus had become rare.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control on historical typhus rates in the United States illustrated this with an unsettling visual. In the late 1940s, typhus rates dwindled dramatically.

Cases plummeted from 5,401 in 1944 to 163 in 1954, remaining in the dozens for decades.

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"Because the disease is rare, in 1987, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists voted to remove flea-borne typhus from the nationally notifiable disease list," the CDC explained in regard to the data set, which ended that year after more than 30 years of negligible infection rates.

In 1987, the total number of recorded cases in the U.S. stood at 49, versus 220 cases in one California county in 2025.

Typhus isn't the only vector-borne illness that's either returning or surging anew, as researchers have reported: tick-borne pathogens like Lyme disease are skyrocketing, as are mosquito-borne diseases like Zika. 

Although the roster of vectors and the diseases they spread is broad, the root of the public health risk is similar across the board: rising temperatures and human activity. 

As the planet overheats, the geographic range of disease vectors like ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas broadens, their breeding seasons lengthen, and people spend more time outdoors. 

Consequently, infection rates for once-rare illnesses spike, as is the case in Los Angeles County.

What's being done about it?

In its bulletin, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health advised residents to take flea-prevention measures for people and pets, such as using an EPA-registered insect repellent.

Officials also urged residents to learn the signs of typhus and to seek medical attention promptly, given the severity of the illness.

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