Officials at Los Angeles' City Hall are considering ripping all of the building's carpets up, as rats and fleas are said to be running riot in its halls.

A motion was filed by Council President Herb Wesson on Wednesday to enact the much needed makeover amid a typhus outbreak in the downtown area.

Wesson said a city employee had contracted the deadly bacterial disease at work, and now he's urging officials to investigate the 'scope' of the long-running pest problem at the council building.

'Employees shouldn’t have to come to work worried about rodents,' Wesson said to the LA Times.

'I intend to do whatever it is we need.'

Councillor Monica Rodriguez captured one of many pest sightings at the City Hall building, this week. A rodent can be seen currying away from workers as they try to trap it

The 91-year-old building has been subjected to an increase of rodent and pest sightings over the last few months. A number of workers have even contracted typhus in the building

WHAT IS TYPHUS? Typhus is a bacterial disease that causes fever, headache, rash, muscle ache, and fever and chills. In severe cases, patients can require hospitalisation due to hepatitis or internal bleeding. It is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi and possibly Rickettsia felis, which are carried by fleas, lice, mites or ticks. The pests live on animals, particularly feral and stray cats, rats and opossums, but do not make their host animals unwell. Flea-borne typhus is endemic in parts of LA and Orange County. The disease also often occurs in Texas and Hawaii. Around 200 cases occur every year throughout the US, particularly in coastal regions. Bacteria spread when faeces from an infected insect contaminate a person's cut or graze while the insect is sucking their blood. If the person scratches the bite area, the bacteria from the faeces can enter their bloodstream. Bacteria can also be rubbed into a person's eyes, or, in rare cases, inhaled. Symptoms then appear six-to-14 days later. Typhus can be treated via antibiotics, with most people recovering within a few days. Between two and four per cent of people who do not receive treatment die worldwide. Typhus can be prevented by avoiding contact with fleas, mites, ticks and lice via: Discouraging wild animals around the home

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After one of his staff members was bitten by a flea late last year, Wesson closed the entire fourth floor office and had all the rugs removed.

But after learning an employee on another floor has suffered the same fate, he's asked officials to examine how much it would cost to re-carpet the whole of the 91-year-old building.

The demand has come after health officials in the downtown area announced the district is in the midst of a typhus outbreak.

Officials have not managed to explain why typhus is suddenly spreading in the area as nine cases have been recorded in downtown LA in the past two months. They are investigating the issue.

Several homeless people who live near City Hall have also contracted the diseases as human waste and trash litters the nearby sidewalks.

The disease flourishes in unsanitary conditions and is often spread by flea-infested rats.

Symptoms include high fever, migraines, aches, rashes and even internal bleeding.

Wesson says he's yet to see one scurrying around in his office but a number of his colleagues have shared stories and even capture videos of their encounters with the creatures.

One such encounter was filmed by Councillor Monica Rodriguez this week, showing her and a number of her colleagues scrambling to catch a scuttling intruder.

'We had an employee or two mention they heard something in the ceiling,' Wesson said.

'Then we had an employee spot what she believed to be paw prints.

'You shouldn't be worried about coming to work and catching some virus.'

In November, deputy city attorney Elizabeth Greenwood said she contracted the illness in the east-wing of the building, experiencing high-fever and vertigo.

Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson filed a motion on Wednesday, urging officials to take action and prioritize worker safety

Liz Greenwood does not want to return to City Hall until it has been fumigated of typhus-carrying rats and fleas

'I was in shock. Who thinks of Typhus?' Greenwood said to KTLA 5. 'I thought of Typhus as something I read about in history books.'

Greenwood says she was so severely ill she thought she was going to die.

'It is terrifying to me that going from my car, up an elevator to my office, I can get this disease from a flea bite.'

She's refusing to return to work until the building is properly fumigated.