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Worst TB outbreak in 20 years kept secret

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Wed, 2012-07-11 01:39 — Maeryn Obley

Lilla Charline Burkhalter, 60, comes to the Clara White center for breakfast most mornings. It was here, in the soup kitchen, that a man with active, coughing TB was recently identified, leading to the discovery that Jacksonville was in the midst of the largest TB outbreak in the country. Burkhalter is coughing, but she says it’s her emphysema acting up. (Photo by Stacey Singer)Image: Lilla Charline Burkhalter, 60, comes to the Clara White center for breakfast most mornings. It was here, in the soup kitchen, that a man with active, coughing TB was recently identified, leading to the discovery that Jacksonville was in the midst of the largest TB outbreak in the country. Burkhalter is coughing, but she says it’s her emphysema acting up. (Photo by Stacey Singer)

palmbeachpost.com - July 8th, 2012 -

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.

That report had been penned on April 5, exactly nine days after Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill that shrank the Department of Health and required the closure of the A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tough tuberculosis cases have been treated for more than 60 years.

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Thu, 2012-07-19 21:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

m.jacksonville.com - by Stacey Singer - July 9, 2012

The Golden Retreat Shelter Care Center in Jacksonville is an assisted living facility for schizophrenics. In 2008 a patient with TB stayed there repeatedly, infecting at least 17 others, and two people eventually died. The TB outbreak returned this spring, with 30 ill so far.

10:08 a.m., July 8, 2012 update: Governor's office refutes report that Jacksonville TB outbreak was kept secret

The Palm Beach Post 

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

The public was not to learn anything until early June, even though the same strain was appearing in other parts of the state.

Today, three months after it was sent to Tallahassee, the CDC report still has not been widely circulated.

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