Officials declared a local public health emergency on Thursday due to a tuberculosis outbreak in Long Beach, California.
City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis made the declaration to “strengthen the City’s preparedness and ability to respond” to the outbreak, the official press release said.
Authorities noted the outbreak is isolated to a “distinct population” and informed the public that the risk of contracting the illness is low.
“The population at risk in this outbreak has significant barriers to care including homelessness and housing insecurity, mental illness, substance use and serious medical comorbidities,” the news release continued:
Several individuals associated with a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel in Long Beach have recently been identified with TB disease. As of April 29, 14 cases of TB disease have been associated with this outbreak; nine people have been hospitalized at some point in their illness; and one person has died. To protect patient privacy and comply with HIPAA regulations, the name of the hotel will not be released. The facility is a private hotel not operated by or contracted with the City of Long Beach. People who were staying at the hotel at the time or could have otherwise been exposed have been or will be contacted by the Health Department.
Officials noted that about 170 people may have been exposed to the illness, and Health Department workers are currently screening contacts for tuberculosis. Authorities believe the number of cases and contacts will increase as the investigation continues.
“This is surprising,” Director of Infectious Disease at Dignity Health Dr. Suman Radhakrishna told KTLA:
We’ve had a lot of people coming from the developing part of the world where tuberculosis is endemic. And if they haven’t had a chance to get adequate healthcare and they have active TB, when they cough, they will aerosolize the bacteria, and all the susceptible individuals around them start to come down with TB.
According to the Mayo Clinic, tuberculosis is classified as a serious illness that mainly targets a person’s lungs. The illness “spreads easily where people gather in crowds or where people live in crowded conditions,” the clinic said, adding that people with weakened immune systems have a greater risk of catching the illness.
“Drugs called antibiotics can treat tuberculosis. But some forms of the bacteria no longer respond well to treatments,” the clinic noted.
The majority of people living in the United States are not vaccinated against tuberculosis because doctors say there is a low incidence of it within the country, according to KCAL:
“There is a skin and a blood test to detect tuberculosis, and if you are found to have it, you’ll be given a four-month supply of medication,” a reporter for the outlet said.
In April, health officials in Chicago reported several cases of tuberculosis at migrant shelters, according to Breitbart News.
