USA - Homeless people in tent cities have created “sky-high” piles of rotting trash that attracts rats and has led many people to worry about a new outbreak of typhus, or other diseases like salmonella and even the bubonic plague. The city’s most notorious trash pile, located between downtown LA’s busy Fashion and Produce districts, continues to be a magnet for rats. The city is ignoring the rat population that is out of control. The trash piles — and the rats attracted to them — can cause numerous health problems for the surrounding population. Dr Jeffrey Klauser, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of California-Los Angeles, told the media outlet that a growing rat population could spread diseases like salmonella and even the bubonic plague.