Tuberculosis Outbreak At Kansas High School Infects 27

[RKP5637]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/18/tuberculosis-kansas-high-school_n_6895354.html

Twenty-seven people tested positive for tuberculosis infection at Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas on Mar. 18, after a single case of tuberculosis disease prompted testing of the 300-plus community of students and staff.

"The number of individuals with TB infection does not exceed what we would anticipate in this setting,” said Lougene Marsh, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment in a press release. “Of course, we had hoped we wouldn’t find any additional TB cases, but we knew this was a possibility. That’s why we took such thorough steps to test everyone who might have been in close contact with the first confirmed case of TB disease.”

Last year, 40 cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed in Kansas, while in 2013 there were 36 cases. Countrywide, there were 9,582 cases in 2013, but the disease used to be much more prevalent in the U.S. In 1953, which is the earliest year CDC has data for, there were 84,304 cases.