Multiple Flu Cases Confirmed at San Diego Migrant Shelter
Multiple Flu Cases Confirmed at San Diego Migrant Shelter
By NBC 7 Staff
Published 54 minutes ago | Updated 39 minutes ago
An old county building is being used as a shelter for migrants transferred to San Diego County from Texas.
There is an outbreak of flu at the San Diego migrant shelter located in a former county building in downtown San Diego.
Three people were confirmed to have the flu and 16 people are having flu-like symptoms this week, officials said Thursday.
"That constitutes an outbreak of flu in a congregate care setting like a shelter or a skilled nursing facility," said Dean Sidelinger, Deputy Public Health Officer for the County of San Diego.
Most of those suffering from influenza are children with ages ranging from 5 years old to adult. There have been no hospitalizations.
Sidelinger said the people who are identified as suffering from the flu are removed from the shelter and placed in a hotel with their families so they can be cared for by public health nurses and community partners.
"We know diseases like the flu can be spread very easily in settings with close contact - shelters, particularly large shelters where individuals are sharing the space," Sidelinger said.
The migrants in the downtown shelter include those that have been transferred to San Diego from Texas where the flu strain of Influenza A H1N1 has been circulating.
Sidelinger said specimens had been taken from the individuals in San Diego and are being processed to determine the type of flu.
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