Three homeless people die of TB, 47 infected at shelters

Three homeless people have died in the tuberculosis outbreak involving Atlanta shelters, public health officials say.

The latest TB death occurred last week at Grady Memorial Hospital, Nancy Nydam, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health, said Thursday.

She said she had no further details about this or the other TB deaths.
The number of TB cases this year involving Fulton County homeless shelters, meanwhile, has increased to 28, including two shelter volunteers.

That’s up from a total of 16 cases reported in May by the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness.

The Department of Public Health last week sent a letter to churches whose volunteers serve in homeless shelters, urging that the volunteers be screened for TB.  http://onlineathens.com/health/2014-08-08/3-homeless-dead-atlanta-tb-outbreak