When Californians talk about the state’s problems, they usually mean housing costs, homelessness, or the latest policy fight in Sacramento. But according to a new report from the City Journal, there’s a more visceral problem festering on the streets of Los Angeles — and it’s straight out of the history books.
Flea-borne typhus cases in L.A. have increased by a staggering 2,300 percent since 2009, and last year the county recorded more cases than at any point in its history, according to the report. That’s not an isolated statistic. Documented tuberculosis outbreaks have been described as one of the worst in a decade. Typhoid fever has infected law enforcement officers. Hepatitis A, Shigellosis, and staph infections are all present. And while bubonic plague and leprosy haven’t yet been confirmed, public health conditions are reportedly ripe for an outbreak.
The cause, as described in the report and echoed by conservative commentators, is unmistakable: streets covered in feces, urine, and rats — the byproduct of a homelessness crisis that has spiraled out of control in the state’s largest cities.
This isn’t about politics in the abstract. It’s about what happens when public sanitation breaks down in a modern city. Medieval diseases don’t need a time machine; they just need an environment where human waste and rodents thrive unchecked.
From Public Health to Political Rhetoric
The City Journal report has become fodder for a broader political argument, particularly among conservative commentators who see California’s struggles as a direct consequence of leftist governance. One conservative political reporter, Olivia Murray, took to social media to express frustration that more people aren’t paying attention to what she calls the “real reality” of medieval diseases returning to L.A. streets.
Murray’s commentary goes beyond epidemiology. She argues that the so-called “Dark Ages” weren’t actually all that dark — pointing to medieval architecture, shorter work hours, and simpler food systems — while describing modern California as a place where people are “visually assaulted” by public art and forced to navigate a food system full of microplastics and environmental toxins.
That’s a rhetorical leap, to be sure. But the underlying public health data is harder to dismiss.
Public health experts have long warned that unsanitary conditions in dense urban environments create a perfect breeding ground for infectious diseases. Typhus, in particular, is spread by fleas that thrive on rats and other animals — and rat populations explode when trash and human waste accumulate in public spaces.
The situation in Los Angeles isn’t unique to California, but it’s become a symbol of broader policy debates about homelessness, housing, and how cities should respond to public health crises.
The Politics of a Plague
Murray’s commentary, published on American Thinker, frames the issue as a direct rebuke of Democratic governance. She points to Europe’s blackouts and energy rationing as evidence that “net zero” policies are leading to a “return to the Dark Ages,” and calls out Democrats by name for allowing California’s streets to deteriorate.
“The streets are covered in feces and urine and rats,” she writes. “So we’re being sent back to the Dark Ages, with none of the benefits that could come along with it.”
Her tone is deliberately provocative — at one point thanking Democrats with a sarcastic “a**holes” — but the underlying complaint is about governance failures that allowed public sanitation to reach crisis levels.
It’s worth noting that the “Dark Ages” comparison is as much cultural as it is medical. Murray laments the loss of Christian morality, claims Islamists are taking control of Western governments, and complains about debates over “gay pornography in the kindergarten classroom.” These are deeply partisan claims that go far beyond public health.
What the Numbers Actually Show
The City Journal report, which is the primary source for the disease statistics, offers a more measured look at the issue. The 2,300 percent increase in typhus cases is striking, and the record-high case count from last year is a clear public health milestone — but the report doesn’t speculate about bubonic plague or leprosy as actual current threats. It notes that conditions are “ripe” for such outbreaks, which is a warning about future risk rather than a description of current reality.
Still, the presence of typhus, TB, typhoid, Hepatitis A, and other infections in a wealthy American city in the 21st century is a cause for serious concern. These are diseases that are largely preventable with basic sanitation measures — access to restrooms, regular street cleaning, pest control, and adequate housing.
The fact that they’re appearing at all speaks to the scale of the homelessness crisis and the difficulty of managing public spaces when large numbers of people are living outdoors without access to basic services.
Policy Implications
The situation in California raises uncomfortable questions for policymakers at all levels. Should cities be required to provide more public restrooms? What about mental health and substance abuse treatment? How do you balance the rights of unhoused people with the broader public’s interest in safe, sanitary streets?
These are not new questions, but the emergence of medieval diseases gives them renewed urgency. It’s one thing to argue about housing policy in the abstract; it’s another to confront the reality of typhus cases in a major metropolitan area.
Conservative commentators like Murray are using the situation to argue for a different approach to governance — one that prioritizes public order and public health over what they see as failed progressive policies. Their critics would argue that the root causes are deeper, including a lack of affordable housing that has pushed more people onto the streets.
What’s clear is that the status quo isn’t working. Whether voters in California or elsewhere are willing to change course — and in what direction — is an open question.
As the City Journal report makes clear, the numbers are already telling a story of their own. The question is whether anyone is listening before the situation gets even worse.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/headed-back-to-the-dark-ages-but-not-in-a-good-way/