A Long Beach man who sued the city, alleging he contracted typhus in 2019 because the local animal control service would not remove homeless kittens possibly carrying fleas near his home, can take his case to trial, a judge has ruled.

After a hearing Thursday, Long Beach Superior Court Judge Mark Kim denied a motion by the city to dismiss Caesar Colorado’s suit alleging negligence and dangerous condition of public property.

Lawyers for the city maintained that Colorado could not tie his injuries to any wrongdoing on the city’s part or prove that the city knew of the alleged dangerous condition of the city property. The defense attorneys also maintained the city was immune from liability.

Typhus is an infectious disease in which sufferers often have a purple rash, headaches, fever and usually delirium. The malady is transmitted by lice, ticks, mites and fleas.

Colorado, 58, says in his suit filed in June 2020 that he went to the city’s Animal Care Services office in late May or June 2019 and asked that 13 roaming cats be picked up from the public alley behind his backyard. An employee of the agency told him they could not take away the felines because they were not yet 8 weeks old nor at least 2 pounds, the suit states.

The employee gave Colorado vouchers to get free food for the animals, according to his court papers.

“The city ordered me to interact with and feed the feral/stray cats near my property until they reached a weight and age that the city would accept them,” Colorado said in a sworn declaration.

Colorado further says he was not warned by the city that he could contract a disease when interacting with the cats, nor was he given any training or told to wear protective clothing.

“He wished them to be gone, but worried that if he removed or disposed of them on his own … he would become liable for animal cruelty,” the suit states.

Within days of feeding the kittens, Colorado was bitten by insects he believes were fleas, the suit states. He suffered from headaches and a fever and in July 2019, he fell to the floor of his home unconscious, the suit states.

A friend found Colorado hours later and the plaintiff, unable to stand, was taken by ambulance to Long Beach Medical Center, where he experienced kidney failure, according to the suit. He remained in the hospital for more than a month and was diagnosed with typhus, then underwent dialysis for several weeks after he was released until his kidneys were normal, according to the complaint.

At the time of the filing of the suit, Colorado still had hip pain and problems walking after his struggle with typhus, according to his court papers.

Man sues city, claims he got typhus from feral cats the city failed to remove