Health
Homeless encampment at center of health alert over rat-borne disease
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encampment in Berkeley, California.
Leptospirosis, which is caused by Leptospira bacteria, is a zoonotic infection that can be passed from animals to people.
The disease has been confirmed in multiple rats and dogs at the homeless encampments along Harrison Street near Eighth Street in West Berkeley, according to an alert from City of Berkeley Public Health.
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Rats and their urine are the primary vectors of the disease, officials warned. It can also be transmitted through contaminated soil or water exposed to infected animal urine.
“People or animals who touch or drink contaminated water or mud are potentially exposed to the bacteria,” the alert stated. “The disease is transmitted to humans and animals when the contaminated water touches mucous membranes, such as eyes, nose, mouth or skin cuts. This disease is not spread in the air or by coughing or sneezing.”
Health officials are warning of a dangerous bacterial infection that has been detected at a homeless encampment in Berkeley, Calif. (iStock)
There is a higher risk after heavy rainfall, flooding or hurricanes, as this increases contact with infected water or soil.
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Leptospirosis typically causes flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, headache, body aches, vomiting or nausea, according to the CDC. Infected people may also experience yellowed eyes or skin, rash, stomach pain or diarrhea.
Rats and their urine are the primary vectors of the disease, officials warned. It can also be transmitted through contaminated soil or water exposed to infected animal urine. (iStock)
Without antibiotic treatment, the disease can lead to serious illness, including kidney damage, liver failure, meningitis and difficulty breathing. In rare cases, it can be fatal to humans and animals, health officials say.
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Illness usually begins between two and 30 days of exposure to the bacteria, according to the CDC. People generally start feeling better within a few days or weeks, but recovery without treatment could take several months.
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“The presence of rats that are transmitting leptospirosis has made the area unsafe for human encampment conditions in the vicinity of Harrison Street encampments in the area generally bounded by San Pablo Avenue, Gilman Street, Codornices Creek and the railroad tracks,” the alert stated.
The disease has been confirmed in multiple rats and dogs at the homeless encampments along Harrison Street near Eighth Street in West Berkeley, according to an alert from City of Berkeley Public Health. (iStock)
The city has designated public health risk zones, with the Red Zone marking the highest risk area inside the encampment. Surrounding areas have been defined as the Yellow Zone, with an elevated but lower risk.
“The City’s Health Officer strongly recommends that encampment residents move out of the defined encampment ‘RED ZONE’ area as soon as possible and at least ⅓ of a mile away due to the public health risk caused by the rat infestation transmitting leptospirosis in the area,” officials advised.
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Residents in the area are encouraged to avoid contact with standing water and mud, use protective clothing and monitor themselves and their pets for signs of illness.
Anyone who has been exposed or is experiencing symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.
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Specific bacteria in the gut could predict a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms appear, new research suggests.
Led by researchers from University College London (UCL), an observational study analyzed the gut microbes of 271 patients in the U.K. who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Also included in the study were 43 carriers of the GBA1 variant, which has been linked to an almost 30 times higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. These participants did not have symptoms of the disease. There was also a control group of 150 healthy participants without the gene.
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Based on fecal samples, more than one-quarter of gut microbes — bacteria and other microorganisms in the digestive tract — were in different amounts for people with Parkinson’s disease compared to healthy individuals, according to a press release.
Non-symptomatic people carrying the Parkinson’s gene also had microbial changes that resembled an “intermediate” stage of the disease, which suggests that microbial changes may happen prior to symptoms emerging.
Specific bacteria in the gut could predict a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms appear, new research suggests. (iStock)
Those who reported eating a more diverse and balanced diet were less likely to have microbiome patterns associated with higher Parkinson’s risk, the researchers found.
The findings, which were published in Nature Medicine, were also seen in over 1,400 participants across the U.K., Korea and Turkey, suggesting that the microbial changes are consistent across different cultures and dietary patterns.
“There is an urgent need to develop treatments that can stop or slow the disease’s progression.”
“Parkinson’s disease is a major cause of disability worldwide, and the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease in terms of prevalence and mortality,” lead author professor Anthony Schapira of the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology said in the release.
“There is an urgent need to develop treatments that can stop or slow the disease’s progression.”
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Patients with Parkinson’s are known to have “significant gut abnormalities,” according to Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee.
One of those is severe constipation, which can occur several years before tremors and other symptoms.
Those who reported eating a more diverse and balanced diet were less likely to have microbiome patterns associated with higher Parkinson’s risk, the researchers found. (iStock)
“There has long been a theory about the gut-brain axis and whether or not the pathology for Parkinson’s starts in the gut decades before stereotypical features are noted,” Murray, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
The neurologist said the study sets the stage for additional research exploring the gut-brain axis theory, which could determine whether early pre-symptomatic treatments could prevent or mitigate the risk of developing Parkinson’s later in life.
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“With an aging population that is living longer, the prevalence of Parkinson’s is increasing significantly, which underscores the importance of studies like this that attempt to prevent this debilitating neurodegenerative disease,” Murray added.
“With an aging population that is living longer, the prevalence of Parkinson’s is increasing significantly,” according to Dr. Earnest Lee Murray. (iStock)
Dr. Aaron Ellenbogen, medical director of the Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Center at the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders, said it is not surprising that a change in the organisms living in the GI tract can be a signature of evolving Parkinson’s pathology.
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“In general, people with GBA mutations tend to have Parkinson’s symptoms evolve in a way that is more consistent with a gut-first presentation,” Ellenbogen, who also was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
Others may experience a different set of symptoms, including loss of sense of smell, before developing signs of motor Parkinson’s disease, he noted.
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“In fact, many of these people don’t develop the symptoms of constipation and REM behavior disorder until later in their disease course,” Ellenbogen said. “These people may actually have a form of Parkinson’s that starts in the brain.”
Potential limitations
There were some limitations to the study, the researchers acknowledged. Because it was observational in design, it could not prove that the microbiome changes directly caused Parkinson’s.
The researchers also noted that not everyone with at-risk microbiome profiles will develop the disease, as other genetic or environmental factors could play a role.
The researchers also noted that not everyone with at-risk microbiome profiles will develop the disease, as other genetic or environmental factors could play a role. (iStock)
Additionally, differences in microbiomes across various populations could skew the results.
“To enable both the research and eventual use of such treatments, we need to develop the means for very early detection of people who will, or likely will, go on to develop the disease,” Schapira said.
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The study was funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the UK Medical Research Council.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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