Californian Contracts Fatal Disease 'Breeding Wild Rats'

Key Points:

• Berkeley reported its first leptospirosis death in over a decade, involving a person living in a rat-infested RV who delayed seeking medical care for weeks or months before succumbing to the infection in May.
• A housemate sharing the RV was also infected but survived after an extended hospital stay; vector control teams removed nearly 200 rats from the RV before it was destroyed.
• The RV was located near a homeless encampment previously linked to rat-associated leptospirosis cases in dogs, though this marks the first human cases in Berkeley in more than ten years.
• Leptospirosis is a bacterial illness spread through contact with contaminated rat urine, beginning with flu-like symptoms and potentially causing severe organ damage if untreated; early antibiotic treatment is effective.
• Berkeley Public Health urges clinicians to consider leptospirosis in patients with relevant exposure and symptoms, emphasizing that delayed care and lack of disease awareness can lead to preventable fatalities.