A horrific outbreak of the skin-eating disease scabies has swept through a California school, leaving five people in Fresno County’s Fowler Unified School District under suspicion as possible cases.
In April, the cases surfaced at a Flower school, prompting Fresno County health officials and district leaders to join forces. They tracked down those showing symptoms, organized treatment, and launched a thorough campus-wide cleaning, ABC30 reported.
Scabies is “an infestation of the skin by a human itch mite” that can cause “intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash,” according to the CDC.
Health officials said no cases have been reported outside the affected school and emphasized that the risk to the broader public remains low.
But scabies is only part of the problem for California schools.
Now, health officials are scrambling to contain tuberculosis exposures confirmed at multiple campuses last month, as this deadly disease continues its alarming rise across the state.
Fresno County officials also uncovered a cluster at Justin Garza High School, where one active infection has been identified.
Meanwhile, a tuberculosis outbreak at a San Francisco Catholic high school has struck nearly one in five students and staff, city health officials report.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health said 252 people connected to Archbishop Riordan High School tested positive for either latent or active tuberculosis between Nov. 10 and April 22.
Officials confirmed seven active TB cases and 241 latent infections within the school community.
Read the full article here