Rotting Trash Piles Sky-High in LA, Attracting Rats and Raising Concerns of a New Epidemic

After reporting a LA's most notorious trash pile to the city's 311 services hotline, the I-Team was told it could take up to 90 days before it's cleaned up. An expert says there's no time to waste

By Joel Grover and  Amy Corral

• Last year, a record 124 typhus cases were reported in Los Angeles County

• The city's most notorious trash pile in downtown LA was cleaned up, but that didn't last

• Other large U.S. cities, like New York and Washington DC, have teams devoted to aggressive rat control

Rat-infested piles of rotting garbage left uncollected by the city of Los Angeles, even after promises to clean it up, are fueling concerns about a new epidemic after last year's record number of flea-borne typhus cases.

Even the city's most notorious trash pile, located between downtown LA's busy Fashion and Produce districts, continues to be a magnet for rats after it was cleaned up months ago. The rodents can carry typhus-infected fleas, which can spread the disease to humans through bacteria rubbed into the eyes or cuts and scrapes on the skin, resulting in severe flu-like symptoms.

The NBC4 I-Team first told Mayor Eric Garcetti's office about the piles of filth in the 700 block of Ceres Avenue in October. At the time, he promised to make sure trash doesn't pile up like that.

The garbage was cleaned after the interview, but conditions have worsened over the next seven months.

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