Drug-Resistant MRSA Infection Spreads Among LAPD Officers

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Police Department is grappling with a health crisis Tuesday as a number of officers have contracted the highly contagious infection MRSA. It's a staph infection that can be difficult to treat because of its strong immunity to many antibiotics.

It's an infection known to spread in hospitals, care facilities, workplaces and schools. It can become dangerous if it passes into the bloodstream via an open wound or medical procedure on an infected person. While it most frequently causes skin infections, it can cause pneumonia or sepsis when it gets into the bloodstream, according to the Center for Disease Control.

"The health, safety, and wellbeing of our Los Angeles Police Department officers is critical and we are ensuring the officers exposed to this disease are cared for," LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli said in a statement. "First responders throughout the region and especially here in Los Angeles are constantly responding to incidents that put them at risk of potential exposure to various diseases, and that's why the Department takes this incident very seriously. All of the work areas that may have been exposed have been disinfected."

The LAPD is awaiting test results before releasing how many officers were involved, ABC7 reported.

Symptoms include rash, headaches, muscle aches, chills, fever, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath and chest pain.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.