A deadly tuberculosis (TB) outbreak inside a California hotel housing homeless people has killed one person and forced city health officials to declare a public health emergency.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that an alarming outbreak at an unnamed hotel has infected 14 people and hospitalized nine people. The identity of the deceased individual has not been released.
“The outbreak is currently isolated to specific groups and the risk to the general public is low,” city officials said in a statement.
Vaccinating immigrants like us would have prevented disease outbreak at Chicago shelter: Expert
A doctor looks at an x-ray of a patient with tuberculosis. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
“People at risk from this outbreak have significant barriers to care, including homelessness and housing insecurity, mental illness, substance use, and serious comorbidities.”
Officials said the health emergency was announced to strengthen the city’s preparedness and ability to respond to an outbreak.
Approximately 170 people were likely exposed to tuberculosis, and the Ministry of Health is currently screening their contacts for the presence of tuberculosis through a thorough examination of symptoms, blood and skin tests, and chest X-rays.
Tuberculosis outbreak at Chicago migrant shelter following measles outbreak
The Ministry of Health said it expects the number of infected people and contacts to increase and that treatment will be provided to those found to have active or latent TB disease.
This 2006 electron microscopy image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes the disease tuberculosis. (Janice Carr/CDC/AP)
Health officials said the name of the hotel is not being released to protect patient privacy and comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. This property is a private hotel that is not operated or contracted by the City of Long Beach.
Tuberculosis is transmitted by airborne particles and usually affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, spine, and brain. It is not as contagious as the new coronavirus.
Click here to sign up for our health newsletter
“You can get tuberculosis if someone coughs or sneezes or comes into close contact with you. The bacteria from those particles gets into the air and people nearby can breathe it in. That’s how they pick up tuberculosis and become infected,” he said. Janet Nesheiwat, a double board certified physician based in New York City, recently told FOX News Digital.
Tuberculosis and Chicago’s immigrant shelters under the microscope. Chicago health officials announced last month that a “small number” of tuberculosis (TB) cases had been reported at some immigrant facilities in the city. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, right, NIH/NAID/IMAGE.FR/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, top left, BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images ),lower left. )
The tuberculosis epidemic comes after the number of tuberculosis cases in the United States in 2023 was the highest in a decade, according to the CDC.
The number of infected people increased from 8,320 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023, with the number of infected people increasing in all age groups, an increase of 1,295 people. According to data from the agency, nearly 10,000 people were infected in 2013.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Chicago health officials announced last month that a “small number” of tuberculosis (TB) cases had been reported at some immigrant facilities in the city.
FOX News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
For more health articles, visit: www.foxnews.com/health.
