Worst tuberculosis outbreak in 20 years kept secret as Florida shuts TB hospital

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 09:51 EST, 9 July 2012 | Updated: 10:21 EST, 9 July 2012

With 13 dead and 99 sick, a recent outbreak of tuberculosis in Jacksonville, Florida, was the worst in decades - but nobody knew.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control tried to warn lawmakers of the dire situation as early as February of this year, penning letters and publishing reports, but it was too late.

Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill in April to shutter the A. G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tuberculosis has been treated for more than 60 years, shrinking the state's ability to combat the deadly disease.

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Medicine: With 13 dead and 99 sick, a recent outbreak of tuberculosis in Jacksonville, Florida, was the worst in decades - but nobody knew

The public would not know about the spread of the airborne bacteria until June, when the strain from Jacksonville showed up in numerous parts of the state like Miami.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Dr Robert Luo's 25 page report described a devastating outbreak - more than 3,000 people may have been exposed in the past two years at Jacksonville homeless shelters, outpatient mental health clinics and local jails.

Despite these alarming numbers, only 253 people had been tested for infection.

Governor Rick Scott signed a Department of Health bill that required the closure of Jacksonville's premiere tuberculosis center on April 5, just nine days before the CDC issued its warning.

Ignorant? Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill in April to shutter the A. G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tuberculosis has been treated for more than 60 years, shrinking the state's ability to combat the deadly disease

Shuttered: Officials from the Centers for Disease Control tried to warn lawmakers of the dire situation, penning letters and publishing reports, but the A. G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana was closed

The Lantana hospital closed July 2, and was one of four tuberculosis hospitals left in the country and the only one in Florida.

Tuberculosis is a lung disease, sometimes called consumption, that is caused by an airborne bacteria that slowly destroys the lungs of a person if not treated.

'The high number of deaths in this outbreak emphasizes the need for vigilant active case finding, improved education about TB, and ongoing screening at all sites with outbreak cases,' Dr Luo’s report states, according to the Palm Beach Post.

On average, most cases of TB can be treated with $500 of medicine. However, a drug-resistant strain can cost $275,000 to treat. A person with an active case of TB must take three to four antibiotics for six months or more with sometimes serious side effects.

The strict treatment regime makes it difficult to treat the infected homeless population, which are the core of the TB infection in Florida.

'We cannot not take care of people who have a difficult case of TB,' said Representative Matt Hudson, the chairman of the House Heath Care Appropriations Committee.

After reading the CDC's letter, he said that there will be funds allotted to fight TB.

The governor declined to comment on the issue, but the Palm Beach Post reports that lawmakers' lackluster response to the outbreak came from an assumption that it only affected the lower classes.

Data show that only two-thirds of the recorded active cases of TB were traced to people or places for the homeless or mentally ill, indicating the disease has spread to the general population.

Outbreak: More than 3,000 people may have been exposed in the past two years at Jacksonville homeless shelters, outpatient mental health clinics and local jails. One patient was diagnosed at the Clara White Mission just last month

'With TB it’s a judgment call,' said Duval County Health Director Dr Bob Harmon to the Palm Beach Post. 'There have been TB outbreaks where we do alert the public, such as a school or a college.'

One strain, FL 046, was first seen in 2008 and has continued to spread, rising 16 percent in 2011.

The CDC tracked one man who had the strain, that hopped from hospital to jail to homeless center for eight months before he was tested for TB. During that time, 18 people contracted the same type of TB and two died.

'We thought after 2008 that we had it contained,' Dr Harmon said. 'It was not contained. In retrospect, it would have been better to inform the general population then.'