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Is Vermin Infestation Making People Sick At Downtown LAPD Station?

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA)  -- Rats, roaches, fleas.

An infestation of vermin at a building in Downtown Los Angeles is allegedly making people sick.

CBS2'KCAL9's Sara Donchey reports that the people getting sick are work at one of LAPD's stations.

LAPD's Central Division is in the heart of Skid Row.  It appears the troubled areas problems are, in this case, stemming from inside the building.

The LAPD says an employee at that station contracted salmonella typhi, which typically comes from infected food or water.

A second employee is believed to have now contracted the same thing.

CBS2/KCAL9 has obtained an OSHA report citing the LAPD for an unclean work area. The report cited, among other things, "the presence of rats/rodents, fleas, roaches, flies gnats, mosquitoes and grasshoppers" at the LAPD Central Community Police Station.

This isn't the first time rats have infested a city building.

Earlier this year, a city attorney contracted typhus at LA City Hall.

The LA Police Protective League issued a statement Wednesday evening. It read in part, "Officers worry enough about being shot or injured policing the streets of Los Angeles. They shouldn't also have to worry about being infected with diseases they can take home to their families simply by showing up to work."

The strong statement also called for the immediate clean-up of these buildings.

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