Health Officials Issue Warning About Tuberculosis Exposure at Casino

A doctor examines the X-rays of a patient in a file photo. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Health officials in California said that at least 10 cases of tuberculosis have been linked to a casino in Contra Costa County, urging people to undergo testing for the potentially deadly bacteria.

In a statement issued last week, Contra Costa Health said that genetic testing showed there were cases among staff members and customers at the California Grand Casino in Pacheco. It said that the cases occurred over the past five years or so.

“Of the 11 confirmed TB cases, 10 are genetically linked and the majority are associated with staff or customers at the casino. The 11th case has not yet been genetically tested,” the statement said, adding the agency has not yet “identified a current or ongoing source of transmission at the casino” and is working with the casino’s management now.

“We are making this recommendation now because there is new evidence that TB may have spread among people who spent time at the casino from 2018 to 2023,” Dr. Meera Sreenivasan said. “TB can live inside someone for years without showing signs of its presence. That is why it’s important to take a test, even if you do not feel sick. TB can cause serious illness, but it is treatable and curable with medicine, especially when caught early.”

The active form of tuberculosis, an ancient disease that was formerly known as consumption, includes symptoms of a persistent cough that can sometimes bring up blood, weight loss, fatigue, fever, and night sweats, according to health officials. However, people who have latent tuberculosis don’t feel sick or have any symptoms, and they cannot spread the bacteria to others; the only sign of a tuberculosis infection is a positive test.

But the bacteria can live in a person for months or even years with no symptoms, say health officials. It means that those with no symptoms should speak with their health care providers about obtaining a test if they believe they were exposed at the California casino, the agency warned.

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The bacterial infection spreads when an infected individual who has symptoms coughs or breathes out droplets with the bacteria, namely in a closed space over a lengthy period of time, according to Contra Costa Health.

In a statement to local media outlets, the casino said that “our foremost commitment is to ensure the safety of our customers and employees” and added that “ none of the linked cases are currently contagious, nor do they involve our staff.”

The local health agency, meanwhile, said it has contacted more than 300 people who might have been exposed to active tuberculosis and is working with state officials to encourage testing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 8,300 cases of tuberculosis were reported in the United States in 2022, although it said that as many as 13 million Americans are estimated to be living with a latent infection.

Officials say that tuberculosis treatment usually involves a lengthy, monthslong treatment involving several different strong antibiotics. The disease can be fatal if left untreated, and it is currently one of the top infectious killers worldwide.

“Overall, without treatment, about 5 to 10 percent of infected persons will develop TB disease at some time in their lives. About half of those people who develop TB will do so within the first two years of infection,” says the CDC. “For persons whose immune systems are weak, especially those with HIV infection, the risk of developing TB disease is considerably higher than for persons with normal immune systems.”

Some researchers have said tuberculosis has killed more people than and other infectious disease in human history, with estimates saying that it has killed one in seven of all people who ever lived until the start of the 19th century.

Other Incidents

Earlier this year, a hospital in Indiana issued a notice to patients that they might have been exposed to tuberculosis after a staff member tested positive for it.

“And then we’ve been contacting some individuals at the individual level and monitoring,” a hospital official told the News and Tribune in August. “It doesn’t look like that exposure is turning into a plot of positive tests ... but that’s definitely something that we’ve been responding to from the health department side of things.”

A month before, it was confirmed that some illegal immigrant children who tested positive for tuberculosis were released across the United States from government custody over the course of about a year. The children, under the age of 18, had latent—not active—tuberculosis infections, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Between 5 and 10 percent of latent infections will develop active tuberculosis, health officials say.

HHS said in its report that officials in 44 states received some 2,450 alerts of illegal alien minors who had tuberculosis in the year ending on May 31, 2023.