Authorities in Long Beach declared a health emergency due to an outbreak of tuberculosis, a highly fatal bacteria.
Authorities in a California declared a health emergency last week due to an outbreak of tuberculosis in Long Beach after it left at least one dead and more than a dozen infected.
The Long Beach city health officer issued the declaration on May 2 to increase resources for tracking, screening, and treating people who have been exposed in the outbreak linked to a hotel, the city health department said in a news release.
As of April 29, there were 14 cases. In addition to the single death, nine have been hospitalized at some point and about 170 people have been identified as likely to have been exposed.
“The outbreak is currently isolated to a distinct population and the risk to the general public is low,” the department said in a statement. “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 statement added that people connected to a “single room occupancy hotel” were likely exposed, adding that “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,” city officials continued to say. “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.”
Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that usually attack the lungs, and it is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs or sneezes. The number of U.S. tuberculosis cases in 2023 was the highest in a decade, according to a report last month by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In California, there were 2,113 new cases in 2023, an increase of 15 percent over 2022, according to the state Department of Public Health in an update earlier this year.
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