Submitted by the MVCAC VVBD Committee
Vaziri, A. 12 Jun 2026. San Francisco Chronicle.
Berkeley health officials are widening their response to a rare, rat-borne disease after confirming the city’s first known human cases in more than a decade. One person died and another was hospitalized after contracting leptospirosis, a bacterial disease commonly spread through the urine of infected animals. City officials said both infected people were living in a severely rat-infested RV about a mile from a northwest Berkeley encampment where the disease had previously been found in rats and dogs.
Note: Leptospirosis is endemic in most Rattus populations and MVCAC personnel trapping/handling rats should take care and where protective gloves and clothing.