A deadly bacterial disease outbreak has reportedly been traced back to a California gentlemen's club.
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The Crazy Horse has been serving the needs of Randy folks in downtown San Francisco for about thirty years. However, the gentlemen's club has now come to the attention of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, according to NBC Bay Area.
Public health authorities told the outlet they're investigating two confirmed cases of tuberculosis stemming from the venerable strip club. The first case cropped up earlier this month. The San Francisco Department of Public Health is scrambling to determine who else may have been infected with the bacterial disease.
"These efforts are ongoing. At this time, the risk to the general public is low," the department explained in a statement. "If this status changes, we will let the public know."
The bacterial disease can have both active and latent forms. Symptoms include a cough that produces blood, a drop in stamina, and weight loss. Tuberculosis can also lie dormant for some time before symptoms arise. However, once the symptoms show up, the disease becomes contagious and serious.
Stanford Infectious Diseases faculty member Dr. Abraar Kara explained how tuberculosis spreads.
"The bacteria can hang around in the air long after someone is no longer in that space," Karan told NBC Bay Area. "Spaces that are crowded with poor ventilation or where you have very close contact with someone that is contagious are going to be higher risk for transmission."
Close contact. Like, say, at a gentlemen's club...
Why It May Be a While Before Public Health Authorities Know if They Have an Outbreak on Their Hands
Meanwhile, all the cases allegedly connected to the California strip club may take a while to come to fruition. The bacteria behind tuberculosis grow at a slow rate.
"They'll do testing and probably repeat the testing in a few weeks" Peter Chin-Hong, a medical professor at UC San Francisco, explained. "Sometimes the testing may be negative, but because [the bacteria] grows so slowly, eventually that test may turn positive if there was a true infection."
Chin-Hong also stressed that two cases don't always mean there's a full-on outbreak coming down the pipeline.
"[Public Health officials] have to establish at least two cases that are linked. We're not even sure at this point whether the two cases are actually acquired at the establishment, or they got it somewhere else," Chin-Hong added.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health also urged those potentially affected to get tested.
So far, The Crazy Horse hasn't commented on the situation.
