A reported tuberculosis case at Tarleton University is leading the Department of State Health Services and Tarleton Health Services to conduct TB tests on a number of students.
All affected students and faculty are being individually notified. Student Health Services will conduct TB evaluations for people who had ongoing, close contact with the infected individual. Anyone not identified as a close contact is not recommended for testing.
Tarleton and the DSHS want to provide accurate information regarding tuberculosis. Below are facts about TB.
- TB is easily prevented and cured with medication.
- TB is an illness caused by bacteria, and the disease is spread when someone with "active" tuberculosis coughs out the germs, and someone else breathes them in.
- Most people who are exposed to the bacteria will never get sick because their body can keep the germs from growing.
- Some people will develop "active" tuberculosis disease. This means they become sick with symptoms like coughing for more than three weeks, unexplained weight loss, fever, night sweats and coughing up blood.
- Only people with "active" TB are capable of spreading the disease to others.
- It is not easy to contract TB. Spreading the disease requires continued close contact in a confined space. Sitting near someone on a bus or in a restaurant is not usually enough for the disease to spread. TB does not spread via surfaces like doorknobs or by sharing a water bottle or utensils.
- There are about 1,500 cases of active tuberculosis disease in Texas every year.
- TB is completely curable with modern antibiotics.
If you have further questions, you may call the Texas Department of State Health Services at 817-264-4500 or visit www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/ to learn more.
