This definitely does not mean you’re about to get tuberculosis, but city health officials are “working feverishly to contain an outbreak” of consumption, the disease best known for killing millions around the globe throughout the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, after two transit facility workers in Greenpoint tested positive for the airborne illness. It’s still unclear how the two individuals contracted the disease, which is still relatively common in Asia and Africa but very rare in New York City, and is treatable and curable. An actual Transit Workers Union spokesperson offered this explanation:
“Who the hell knows how they got it? Consider what these guys do. They take trucks, go to stations and hose them down. They’re in constant contact with crap in those stations.”
Well now we know how transit workers would explain what they actually do all day at their jobs. Close, prolonged contact with an infected person can spread the disease, so some Greenpoint retailers say they’re going to start wearing masks, since transit workers shop at their stores for prolonged periods. That seems kind of unnecessary, but it could be a new, postapocalyptic-looking Brooklyn fashion statement. In any case, we hope the transit workers get well soon.
Outbreak: Two transit workers have TB! [Brooklyn Paper]
Well now we know how transit workers would explain what they actually do all day at their jobs. Close, prolonged contact with an infected person can spread the disease, so some Greenpoint retailers say they’re going to start wearing masks, since transit workers shop at their stores for prolonged periods. That seems kind of unnecessary, but it could be a new, postapocalyptic-looking Brooklyn fashion statement. In any case, we hope the transit workers get well soon.
Outbreak: Two transit workers have TB! [Brooklyn Paper]
