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**Shiloh** · July 8, 2012, 06:45 PM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...-secret/nPpLs/

Updated: 6:10 p.m. Sunday, July 8, 2012 | Posted: 10:52 a.m. Sunday, July 8, 2012
Worst TB outbreak in 20 years kept secret
State rushes closure of its only TB hospital in Lantana
By Stacey Singer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE ?

The CDC officer had a serious warning for Florida health officials in April: A tuberculosis outbreak in Jacksonville was one of the worst his group had investigated in 20 years. Linked to 13 deaths and 99 illnesses, including six children, it would require concerted action to stop...

**Story** · July 9, 2012, 09:11 AM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Interesting demographics -

Most of the sick were poor black men. * However, the itinerant homeless, drug-addicted, mentally ill people at the core of the Jacksonville TB cluster are almost impossible to keep on their medications.

**Shiloh** · July 10, 2012, 11:38 AM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Source: http://www.news-press.com/article/20...news|text|Home

Florida Department of Health responds to TB reports
12:10 PM, Jul. 10, 2012 |
Written by
News Service of Florida

Responding to media reports that he called "outrageous," a top Florida health official late Monday said prudent steps have already been taken to contain what federal investigators have described as the largest outbreak of tuberculosis anywhere in the United States in the past 20 years.

Florida Department of Health officials said a spike in TB cases among homeless people in Jacksonville is being aggressively addressed and recent media reports that the outbreak has been kept secret are not justified.

"After these inaccurate reports, it is important for the public to know, the number of TB cases in Florida has been trending downward for several years," said Dr. Steven Harris, DOH deputy secretary for health. "The increase in this particular strain of non-drug resistant TB has affected approximately 99 people over the past eight years..."

**Emily** · July 14, 2012, 02:55 PM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...roperly/nPqnT/

Posted: 7:40 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, 2012

State says TB outbreak was handled properly
By Pat Beall

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Stung by a Palm Beach Post report that the worst outbreak of tuberculosis in 20 years went largely unreported to the public, Florida?s Department of Health Tuesday issued a statement insisting it took steps to contain the cluster and inform key stakeholders in Duval County, where the cases first appeared....
The outbreak dates to 2008, when a schizophrenic patient in Jacksonville contracted TB but went untreated for eight months, infecting at least 17 others.

So far, the TB strain has been linked to 13 deaths and 99 illnesses, including six infected children.

The report was dated nine days after Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed off on closing the A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, which has treated tuberculosis cases for 60 years.

Some decision makers involved in the Holley closing said they were unaware of the outbreak or CDC investigation; others said they were not informed of the scale of the problem....

**Shiloh** · July 27, 2012, 07:43 AM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Source: http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content...9J1jO7cyA.cspx

42 cases of active TB in Jacksonville
Published: 7/26 4:40 pm
Updated: 7/26 5:50 pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Health Department is continuing its investigation of tuberculosis in Duval County.

Some 2,100 people have been identified as priority contacts.

The Duval County Health Department deployed five teams of health professionals to focus on screening the homeless population in Jacksonville. The goal is to find active cases, stop the transmission of TB, and identify latent tuberculosis infection to eliminate the source of future infection.

So far in 2012, there have been 42 reported cases of active TB. The health department says 15 of the cases are all related to the same strain of TB called FL0046. The individuals are either homeless or at the risk of becoming homeless...

**Shiloh** · August 1, 2012, 08:50 PM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Source: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/aug/...led-last-year/

St. Lucie County TB cases doubled last year

By Cynthia Washam
Posted August 1, 2012 at 5:01 p.m.

Two St. Lucie County tuberculosis patients had the same disease strain that was associated with a Jacksonville outbreak health officials are calling the nation's worst in 20 years. The county also saw TB cases double last year, which gave it the third highest rate in the state.

Health officials are watching the local cases, but aren't ringing alarms...

**sharon sanders** · August 1, 2012, 09:15 PM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Originally posted by Shiloh View Post

Source: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/aug/...led-last-year/

St. Lucie County TB cases doubled last year

By Cynthia Washam
Posted August 1, 2012 at 5:01 p.m.

Two St. Lucie County tuberculosis patients had the same disease strain that was associated with a Jacksonville outbreak health officials are calling the nation's worst in 20 years. The county also saw TB cases double last year, which gave it the third highest rate in the state.

Health officials are watching the local cases, but aren't ringing alarms...

There are only 2 cases reported so far in 2012.

**Shiloh** · August 31, 2012, 05:55 PM

Re: FL: Report indicates an outbreak of tuberculosis among Duval County's homeless population

Source: http://www.news-press.com/article/20...nings-continue

Surgeon general: Jacksonville TB screenings continue
3:37 PM, Aug. 31, 2012 |
Written by
The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE -- State health officials Friday said an effort to identify and contain an outbreak of tuberculosis within Jacksonville's homeless community has so far found a single active case and 311 non-infectious cases out of more than 3,000 people tested.

Six weeks after launching an aggressive push to contain a new strain of the contagious disease that has shown up in the region, Florida Surgeon General John Armstrong said more than 150 state and local health officials have descended on the city to screen potential carriers.

He stressed again Friday that people living in the Jacksonville area are safe...

**Shiloh** · September 15, 2012, 06:36 AM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Source: http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/art...fm?id=29367927

8 more in Florida turn up with TB
James Call, 09/14/2012 - 04:27 PM

Florida health officials say eight more individuals have tested positive for tuberculosis in the past week. The eight were among a priority list of individuals thought to have either come into contact with a person with an active infection or were in the same location of an infectious person.

None of the eight had the FL 0046 strain of TB, linked to 13 deaths and what the Centers for Disease Control called the worst outbreak of the disease in 20 years...

**Shiloh** · September 23, 2012, 02:59 PM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Source: http://m.jacksonville.com/news/metro...ls-tb-outbreak

Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012
Emails show pattern of concealment in Duval's TB outbreak
By Adam Kealoha Causey, Tracy Jones

Latest by north miami 5 hours 7 min ago

When Jacksonville City Councilman Robin Lumb tried to ask questions about the recent tuberculosis outbreak among Jacksonville?s homeless, he was never able to get answers.

Lumb was 6 years old when his father was diagnosed with active TB, and he said a vivid part of his childhood was frequently being tested for TB. He wanted to know the implications of the Jacksonville outbreak, but the Duval County Health Department wouldn?t return emails, he said.

He wasn?t the only one who couldn?t get an explanation.

A review of state and local health department emails over a four-year period shows the agencies released only select information to the public regarding an increase in TB cases among Jacksonville?s homeless population, despite recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the local public information officer...

**Shiloh** · September 29, 2012, 06:19 AM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Source: http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/art...fm?id=29567953

Another active TB case found in Duval County
James Call, 09/28/2012 - 05:57 PM

The Florida Department of Health reports it has found another active case of tuberculosis.

Bonnie Sorenson, incident commander for the Jacksonville TB outbreak, said it is the third active case discovered since July. Sorenson, who was appointed this week as interim-director of the Duval County Health Department, on Friday provided a weekly update on the outbreak. .

"There are a limited number of active cases in Duval County and we are finding them and we will ensure they are cured of TB," Sorenson said...

**Shiloh** · October 5, 2012, 09:27 PM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...th2nd-t/nSTf9/

Updated: 5:21 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 | Posted: 6:00 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, 2012

Post investigation: On the trail of TB
Second Florida tuberculosis patient wandered unchecked for a month
By Pat Beall
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE ?

Since 2008, Jacksonville has battled an uncontained tuberculosis outbreak federal officials describe as among the worst in two decades, the upshot of a contagious patient in the homeless community.

But just two years after that patient triggered an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another homeless TB patient in Jacksonville also slipped the safety net intended to protect an unwary public, The Palm Beach Post has found...

**Ronan Kelly** · October 20, 2012, 05:04 AM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Two more cases of TB found
James Call, 10/19/2012 - 11:38 AM

The Florida Department of Health reported Friday two new cases of people testing positive for an active form of the TB bacillus that has claimed 13 lives. Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, the incident commander for the Duval County tuberculosis investigation said there are now 24 active cases of FL0046 TB strain in Jacksonville. Six months ago a Centers for Disease Control report called the Jacksonville out break among the worst that has occurred in 20 years. Since July, health workers have been locating and testing individuals on a priority list of people thought to have come into contact with the bacterium that causes the lung disease.
...

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http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=29867980

**Shiloh** · October 27, 2012, 09:44 PM

Re: FL: 2012 TB cases

Source: http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/art...fm?id=29978653

TB update: officials confirm two new cases
James Call, 10/26/2012 - 03:29 PM

The Florida Department of Health reported Friday two more Jacksonville-area residents have a form of tuberculosis that has claimed 13 lives and that another two tested positive for tuberculosis. The two new cases of the FL0046 strain of TB brings to six the number of cases reported in the past three weeks and 26 so far this year...

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FL: 2012 TB cases

FL: 2012 TB cases

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