The Cabell-Huntington Health Department has tested nearly everyone who might have come in contact with two people with confirmed cases of tuberculosis.
“To date we have tested 138 people who were possibly exposed to those two different cases,” said department spokesperson Elizabeth Ayers.
A health advisory was issued earlier this month in hopes of reaching out to anyone who might have come in contact with the individuals. Ayers said they’ve been successful so far, and so far there are no new confirmed cases of TB.
Though tuberculosis is rare these days, it is still a communicable disease.
“We do see one to two cases a year,” Ayers said. “For the past couple of years, we’ve had an increase in those numbers.”
It will take anywhere from a month to two for the final results of those tests to come back. But Ayers said she’s confident the health agency was able to stop it from spreading.
Though tuberculosis is an airborne disease, Ayers said residents shouldn’t worry about contracting tuberculosis merely by passing someone.
“Walking down the street, passing somebody that has active TB, your chances of getting it that way are very, very low,” she said. “You have to be in very, very close contact with somebody that has it, somebody that you’re around quite a bit.”
Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body.
