Case of Tuberculosis Reported at MiraCosta College

A case of tuberculosis has been diagnosed in a person with ties to MiraCosta College in Oceanside, health officials announced Wednesday.

A limited number of students, faculty and staff may have been exposed to the disease, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.

The period of exposure at the college’s Community Learning Center’s Adult High School Diploma Program was from Nov. 22, 2011, to Dec. 27, 2011, according to the HHSA. Free testing for TB will be available at the Community Learning Center, 1831 Mission Ave., on Feb. 21 from 9 a.m. until noon.

The HHSA is working with MiraCosta officials to notify everyone who may have come into contact with the affected person, whose association with the college was not released.

People who may have been exposed to TB can also go to any county public health or TB clinic for testing, as well as their primary care physician.

“TB spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes,” said Wilma Wooten, county public health officer, said in a release. “Typically, only people who have had close, extended contact with the infected person run the risk of contracting the disease.”

Most people who are exposed to TB do not develop the disease. TB can be treated and cured with medication, making it important to identify those who have been exposed.

Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss.

For more information, call MiraCosta College Health Services at (760) 795-6675, or the county TB Control Program at (619) 692-8621.

There were 263 cases of TB reported in San Diego in 2011, an 18 percent increase from 2010. There have been 22 cases of TB reported so far in 2012.