TB Outbreak Traced To Castro Bars

A small outbreak of tuberculosis has been traced back to Castro-area gay bars, where a bartender was apparently infected by a patron. SF's public health department is screening bar employees all over the Castro.

San Francisco health officials have traced several cases of tuberculosis to patrons of Castro gay bars, with one of the people infected a bartender in the area. The discovery has prompted them to ask 140 employees of businesses in the gay neighborhood who may have been exposed to an active case of TB to get screened for the potentially deadly disease.

To handle the large number of people being asked to cooperate with the request, the health department has set up a special screening site at Magnet, the gay men's community health center in the Castro, that will be open over the first two weeks of January. Those screened will be given an advanced blood test for TB, and people who are HIV-positive, and particularly at risk for TB, will also be given a chest X-ray. The screenings are meant to identify anyone who is at risk for developing TB and provide them with follow up treatment necessary to control the disease. More than 50 people have reportedly already been tested.

TB is an airborne disease commonly spread by coughs and sneezes; bar employees appear to be particularly susceptible due to poor ventilation. The disease is easily treated in the early stages, but can be particularly difficult to treat in the HIV-positive. The number of TB cases in the U.S. have been steadily dropping for many years and is now primarily found in immigrants who arrive with the disease.