Berkeley leptospirosis outbreak turns lethal after human instances linked to rat-infested RV

A lethal rat-borne illness outbreak in Berkeley has claimed its first human sufferer in additional than a decade — and well being officers say the surprising case concerned an RV so overrun with rodents that almost 200 rats needed to be eliminated earlier than the automobile was destroyed.

Berkeley officers confirmed this week that one particular person died in Might after contracting leptospirosis, a doubtlessly deadly bacterial illness unfold via the urine of contaminated animals, significantly rats. A second one who lived with the sufferer survived after a prolonged hospitalization.

The pair lived collectively in an RV a few mile from a sprawling homeless camp in North Berkeley that has been on the middle of an ongoing leptospirosis outbreak amongst rats and canine since late 2025.

Metropolis Supervisor Paul Buddenhagen stated the 2 occupants had been utilizing the RV to lure, feed and breed wild rats. Officers described the automobile as “severely infested” with rodents.

Vector management crews eliminated almost 200 rats from the RV earlier than it was towed away and destroyed.

The 2 individuals “fell sick, however they didn’t search medical take care of weeks and presumably months,” Buddenhagen wrote in a memo to the Metropolis Council. That delay “is assumed to have contributed to the severity of their illness.”

The sufferer died shortly after being hospitalized, whereas the second resident finally recovered.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious illness professional at UC San Francisco, stated the sheer variety of rodents dramatically elevated the chance of an infection.

“The extra rats you will have, the extra urine you might need, and also you enhance the possibility of not less than one of many rats having an infection,” he informed SFGATE. “For those who simply had one rat, it’s like taking part in rat roulette.”

Leptospirosis usually begins with flu-like signs, together with fever, chills, complications, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting, however can progress into life-threatening organ failure.

“It’s a two-part sickness,” Chin-Hong stated. “The early part is sort of like flu-like signs.”

Regardless of the fatality, Chin-Hong pressured that the illness is often treatable when caught early.

“No one ought to die of lepto,” Chin-Hong stated. “It’s a micro organism. It’s treatable by antibiotics that each hospital has.”

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