A confirmed case of tuberculosis, involving a University of South Florida student on the Tampa campus, has been reported to the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County.
Currently, the student is undergoing TB drug therapy, recovering in isolation and is no longer a health risk to others.
With assistance from the university, the Florida Department of Health — Hillsborough County Tuberculosis Center has notified about 90 students, faculty, staff and community members who were at risk of exposure and will begin testing this group next week.
“USF and the Department of Health are working together to ensure the health and safety of all students, employees, and members of the student’s community,” said Florida Department of Health — Hillsborough County Tuberculosis Center Manager Jylmarie Lewis.
This is the first case of TB on the campus in 2013. The last case of TB at the university occurred in May 2012, and the incidents appear to be unrelated.
TB is a disease that usually infects the lungs but can affect other parts of the body, causing serious illness. It is spread when an infected person coughs, talks, sings or sneezes untreated TB germs into the air. People who breathe in the germs can become infected. Typically, only persons who have had close, day-to-day contact with the infected person run the risk of contracting the disease.
TB is less contagious than measles, mumps, chicken pox and influenza and, even if a person is infected, the disease may remain dormant and not contagious to others.
For more information about TB, visit cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/general/tb.htm.
Students and employees of USF with additional questions may call the Student Health Services nurse line at (813) 974-1797, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. If a student or employee not identified/notified by the Department of Health wants to be tested for TB, he or she may schedule an appointment at Student Health Services by calling (813) 974-2331. Student Health Services will charge for services rendered.
All other inquiries can be directed to the Florida Department of Health — Hillsborough County, (813) 307-8047.
