Tuberculosis outbreak at California hotel to lead to public health emergency

A tuberculosis outbreak at a Long Beach hotel has caused the health department to declare a public health emergency, though the City Council will need to ratify the decision.

The city had confirmed 14 cases of the disease as of Monday, April 29, in people “associated with a single room occupancy hotel,” according to a Thursday, May 2, news release. Another 170 people were “likely exposed” to the bacteria, though the general risk to the public remained low, the health department said.

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“People who were staying at the hotel at the time or could have otherwise been exposed,” the news release said, “have been or will be contacted by the health department.”

The Department of Health and Human Services, citing patient privacy concerns, declined to share the name or location of the hotel — but noted it is a private facility not operated by or contracted with the city.

Long Beach has not determined the original source of the outbreak.

“Because you can be symptomatic with TB for so long,” City Health Officer Dr. Anissa Davis said in Thursday statement, “it can be difficult to figure out where it originated from.”

The department’s public health emergency declaration, meanwhile, is intended to free up additional resources necessary to contain the current tuberculosis outbreak.

“The outbreak is currently isolated to a distinct population and the risk to the general public is low,” the city said. “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.”

Of the 14 tuberculosis patients identified since Monday, nine have been hospitalized and one has died, the city said.

Tuberculosis, an ancient disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which spreads through the air, like the coronavirus.

But it isn’t nearly as quickly transmitted as the coronavirus, the city said, and infection usually requires prolonged exposure to someone with the illness.

People who have been infected with the bacteria but haven’t begun to show symptoms, re diagnoses with latent tuberculosis infection — and prescribed treatment to prevent the development of active TB.

Only people with an active case of tuberculosis can spread the bacteria.

Those with active tuberculosis, the city said, will show various symptoms, including a cough lasting more than two weeks, fever, night sweats, weight loss and fatigue.

Though some people develop active TB disease within weeks of infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, others may get sick years later or if they become immunocompromised.

Others never develop an active infection at all.

The disease can be cured with several medications, the city said. But some people, especially those with compromised immune systems, are more at risk for serious cases and death.

Tuberculosis infections have risen each year in California since 2020, according to the state’s Department of Public Health, with a cumulative 24% increase in new cases over the past four years.

Last year, the Department of Public Health tallied 2,113 new tuberculosis cases, up 15% from the year prior.

Tuberculosis-related deaths have also been on the rise, according to the state. In 2010, the department said, about 8.4% of people died from the illness — while 12% of TB patients died from the disease in 2021.

The Long Beach health department, meanwhile, will attempt to contain the local outbreak with its TB Control Program — which provides treatment, temporary housing food, and transportation to those infected.

That includes tracking down the approximately 170 additional people who were likely exposed to the disease, screening them for symptoms and determining whether they could have exposed additional people to tuberculosis.