County says it found no evidence of increased illness at South Bay Urgent Care tied to sewage spills
County public health officials say that a two-week investigation showed “no conclusive evidence” of increased gastrointestinal illness at a South Bay health clinic that claimed its patients suffered such symptoms since Tropical Storm Hilary inundated the heavily polluted Tijuana River in August 2023. Public statements about a rising trend in the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting spurred the county to dispatch experts to South Bay Urgent Care from Feb. 5 to Feb. 18 during a period when several inches of rain fell across the region. A close review of patient charts during that fortnight, said Dr. Mark Beatty, an assistant medical director in the county’s epidemiology and immunization department, did find incidences of gastrointestinal illness, but at rates no greater than were observed at other medical providers in the area.