(KRON) — A bacterial disease that can potentially be fatal to both people and pets has been found in Alameda County for the first time in five years, health officials announced this week. The City of Berkeley issued a public health alert on Monday after cases of leptospirosis were confirmed in sickened dogs at the Harrison Street encampments.
The bacterium spreads through the urine of infected animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and can survive in contaminated water or soil for months. At the Harrison Street encampments, located in the Gilman District near University Village, Berkeley health officials said numerous rats and at least two dogs tested positive for leptospirosis in 2025.
“The presence of rats that are transmitting Leptospirosis has made the area unsafe for human encampment conditions in the vicinity of Harrison Street encampments in the area generally bounded by San Pablo Avenue, Gilman Street, Codornices Creek and the railroad tracks,” the public health alert stated…