The City Council of Long Beach, California, is poised to authorize a public health emergency in response to a local outbreak of tuberculosis.
The city’s health officer, Dr. Anissa Davis, declared the emergency last week, after its health department detected 14 tuberculosis cases at a single-room occupancy hotel. The City Council vote on Tuesday night will serve as the final approval for the declaration.
Nine tuberculosis patients have been hospitalized and one has died, according to the health department. As of Monday, about 175 people had been exposed to tuberculosis as a result of the outbreak.
In a news release last week, the department said that “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 department added that it is testing people who were exposed. No new cases have been reported since last week.
The outbreak was reported amid a national rise in tuberculosis cases, which have increased since 2020 after 27 years of decline. The U.S. recorded 9,615 active infections last year — a 16% increase over the previous year.