San Francisco, California: Two Active Tuberculosis Cases Linked to Crazy Horse Club on Market Street

San Francisco health officials are investigating two active cases of tuberculosis associated with the Crazy Horse, a club on Market Street that has operated for more than three decades, the San Francisco Department of Public Health told NBC Bay Area.

The department confirmed the investigation on Thursday, October 22. It said the first case was confirmed in early October, and that it then began work to trace who else may have been exposed. The department did not name the two people.

Tracing is under way, and officials call the risk low

"These efforts are ongoing and at this time, the risk to the general public is low," the department said in a statement. "If this status changes, we will let the public know."

Contact tracing for tuberculosis moves slowly by nature. The bacteria behind the disease grow slowly, so it can take time before health workers can say who was exposed and whether anyone else was infected, experts told NBC Bay Area. Tuberculosis spreads through the air, and catching it generally requires prolonged exposure to a person who is contagious. Transmission risk runs higher in crowded places with poor ventilation.

What tuberculosis does

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs. It comes in active and latent forms. In its latent form it can stay hidden in the body for a long time with no symptoms, then turn active, contagious and serious.

While an infection stays latent, it carries no symptoms and is not contagious. The danger comes if it turns active. Symptoms of active tuberculosis can include a cough lasting more than three weeks, coughing up blood, fatigue and unintentional weight loss. Anyone who spent extended time around a person with active tuberculosis and develops those symptoms should get tested, health officials say as a general practice with the disease.

The city's wider caseload

The Crazy Horse investigation involves two cases in a city that records dozens of tuberculosis cases in a normal year. In 2025, 78 new active tuberculosis cases were reported in San Francisco, according to the Department of Public Health's tuberculosis bulletin. Eight of those residents had died at the time the bulletin was published.

The department described both cases as associated with the establishment, and its tracing focuses on people who spent extended time there. The department has not said when its tracing work at the club will finish, or whether more cases have been found. It said it would update the public if the risk assessment changes.