The Long Beach, Calif., City Council authorized a public health emergency in response to a local tuberculosis outbreak. The vote was made Tuesday night, as confirmed by NBC News.
The city's top health official, Dr. Anissa Davis, declared a local public health emergency last week to enhance preparedness and response capacity for the tuberculosis (TB) outbreak. The city council was expected to approve this declaration.
Davis explained that the decision was made due to an outbreak of the disease at a hotel. Davis explained that 14 people were affected. Nine of them have been hospitalized and one person has died.
"The facility is a private hotel not operated by or contracted with the City of Long Beach. 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," the city's department of health detailed in a statement:
Screening and treating such a large number of people requires many resources. Declaring a public health emergency streamlines the department’s ability to quickly secure resources and take additional action to contain the outbreak.
Likewise, the department explained that tuberculosis is a serious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. "Like COVID-19, TB spreads through the air, such as when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. However, TB is not as quickly transmitted as COVID-19, and usually requires prolonged exposure between the person with TB disease and family, friends or everyday close contacts.”
