Updated

Updated · WRAL News · Sep 16

Cumberland County Probes TB Case at Seventy-First High School, 260 Identified as Exposed

Updated

Updated · WRAL News · Sep 16

Cumberland County Probes TB Case at Seventy-First High School, 260 Identified as Exposed

Q: Since latent TB hides without symptoms, how many of the exposed individuals are unknowingly carrying a highly contagious threat?

It is not possible yet to say how many of the roughly 260 exposed people are carrying latent tuberculosis, and latent TB is not itself a “highly contagious threat.” That distinction matters. Only active TB disease, especially in the lungs or throat, spreads to others through the air during prolonged close contact. Latent TB infection means the bacteria are in the body but inactive: the person has no symptoms and is not contagious. A positive skin or blood test alone cannot tell officials whether someone has latent infection or active disease, which is why follow-up screening includes symptom checks and often chest X-rays, with sputum testing if active TB is suspected. At this stage, health officials are doing what standard public-health guidance calls for: identifying close contacts, testing them now if appropriate, and often repeating testing 8 to 10 weeks after the last exposure because TB infection may not show up immediately. That means any number reported before the investigation is complete would be speculative. What can be said from established evidence is that most close contacts do not go on to develop contagious TB disease, and even among people who do have latent TB, only about 5% to 10% will develop active TB over their lifetime if untreated, with higher risk in people with weakened immune systems. The key public-health goal is to find anyone with active disease quickly and to treat latent infections so they do not later become active.

3 articles · Updated · WRAL News · Sep 16

260 people at Seventy-First High School have been identified as possible close contacts after a confirmed tuberculosis case was reported to Cumberland County on Sept. 11.
Cumberland County Public Health is investigating with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Cumberland County Schools to determine the full scope of exposure and provide screening information.
Wednesday notifications went to parents, and letters were sent home with students identified as possible close contacts; officials said all close contacts have been reached by a public health nurse or school staff.
Officials released no details about the infected person, while reminding families that active TB usually affects the lungs and can cause a cough lasting more than three weeks, fever, night sweats and weight loss.