The union for Los Angeles police officers is demanding the city clean up homeless encampments after a detective was diagnosed with typhoid fever and two others showed similar symptoms.
The Police Department reported two of the illnesses Wednesday and says it disinfected any work areas that were exposed at its Central Division.
Robert Harris of the Los Angeles Police Protective League says the officers all work in the division that includes Skid Row, a notorious area where homeless people camp on the streets.
The union wants the stationhouse to be sanitized regularly.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bacteria that cause typhoid fever spread through contaminated food or water.
The illness isn’t common in the U.S. but affects 22 million people annually in other countries.