Scientists believe THOUSANDS of people have been exposed to a deadly outbreak of tuberculosis in downtown Los Angeles



Public health officials are searching for more than 4,500 people who they believe have been exposed to a deadly outbreak of tuberculosis in Los Angeles, as part of a huge effort to contain the disease.

Scientists from t he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in downtown Los Angeles to help officials determine why the disease is spreading and to stop it in its tracks.



Eleven people have died from the disease since 2007, and a total of 78 cases have been noted. Of these, 60 were homeless people living in an area known as skid row.

Scientists believe the strain is unique to the area and health officials estimate that 4,650 people have been exposed. They are now trying to find them to administer treatment.

Outbreak: Health officials are trying to stop the spread of tuberculosis in Los Angeles' skid row - where there is a high population of homeless people. Eleven people have died from the disease since 2007

'This is the largest outbreak in a decade,' Jonathan Fielding, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, told the Los Angeles Times . 'We are really putting all of our resources into this.'

It comes as tuberculosis is declining across the general population, but amid the increase of drug-resistant strains of the diseases, which have a mortality rate of 80 per cent.

Officials are concerned that, due to the high population of homeless people on skid row, it will spread easily between people there due to poor hygiene and healthcare and repeated contact with others.

'It has a lot to do with the fact that they're in closed communities,' Dr. Alejandra Rodriguez, from Molina Healthcare, told ABC7 . 'These shelters have a lot of people under the same roof and if you have one person sick and coughing, he's putting everybody else at high risk.'



Investigation: Scientists are now looking for the 4,560 people at risk so they can treat them

THE INCREASING THREAT OF DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS

As patients battle tuberculosis, it is fighting back, and the number of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis is on the rise.

This is a strain of the disease that is resistant to the most powerful treatments against TB, including isoniazid and rifampicin. It usually occurs when the antibiotics are interrupted or the levels are not high enough - both of these scenarios are possible in skid row's population of homeless patients. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 8.2 percent of TB cases in the U.S. were resistant to isoniazid. The CDC also found that 1 per cent of tuberculosis cases in the U.S. were resistant to both isoniazid and rifampin. Overall, 125 cases of this multi-drug resistant TB were reported in 2007, an increase from the 116 cases reported in 2006. Instead, these patients must opt for longer, more expensive treatments and the mortality rate is a staggering 80 per cent.



Most of the people affected have been men, and around 20 per cent are HIV-positive, according to an alert sent out by the public health department.



Health workers also fear that the outbreak could spread further if nothing is done.

Tuberculosis is transmitted by inhaling droplets from infected patients when they sneeze or cough, and can be deadly if left untreated.

Carol Oakman-Schmid, 54, who is homeless, told the L.A. Times that she has heard people at the shelter with loud, heavy coughs.

'Whether it's TB, I don't know, I'm not a doctor,' she said. 'But sure it's a concern, absolutely. You have a lot of respiratory ailments here.'

The strain on skid row can be treated with medications and clear up in six to nine months.

The health department has also advised shelters on how to screen and identify patients at risk of tuberculosis, including looking out for persistent coughs and screening incoming people.

John Williams started living at the Weingart shelter on skid row two weeks ago and told CBS Los Angeles that he had to be screened before they allowed him in.

'They make you go get checked before you get into one of these programs because they don't want it spread out in there,' Williams said.

Precautions: John Williams was screened for TB before he moved to the Weingart shelter on skid row

The public health department has also asked shelters to share information on every person who has used their services so they find people who might be affected.

