Health Official: Angelenos Not At Risk To Downtown TB Outbreak

February 26, 2013 5:58 PM

The feds are screening people who may have been exposed to a drug-resistant tuberculosis. (credit: CBS)

Filed under

Local, News

Photo Galleries

2013 Oscars Fashion

2013 Oscars

2013 Celebrity Deaths

Jerry Buss Remembered

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com)— Angelenos are not in danger in the wake of a tuberculosis outbreak on Skid Row, according to the county’s top health official.

“The public is not at risk,” Dr. Jonathan Fielding told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Fielding, the head of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said that “frequent and close contact” with someone with tuberculosis is necessary to contract the disease, and the outbreak is “unusual but a not particularly virulent strain.”

Since 2007, 11 people have died from the bacterial disease and 78 people have been diagnosed with the illness.

According to Fielding, 60 of the people who were diagnosed are homeless and a quarter of those same people are HIV-positive.

Thousands May Have Been Exposed To Deadly TB Epidemic Downtown

Health Official: Angelenos Not At Risk To Downtown TB Outbreak

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/02/27/1-person-at-whittier-high-school-tests-positive-for-tb/ 1 Person At Whittier High School Tests Positive For TB « CBS Los Angeles

[...] Health Official: Angelenos Not At Risk To Downtown TB Outbreak [...]
http://travel2losangeles.us/los-angeles-news-headlines-forfeb-27-2013/ Los Angeles News headlines for Feb 27 2013 : Travel tips, hotels, restaurants, jobs and news | Travel 2 Los Angeles

[...] Health Official: Angelenos Not At Risk To Downtown TB OutbreakAngelenos are not in danger in the wake of a tuberculosis outbreak on Skid Row, according to the top county health official. [...]