Whitefish Bay Middle School Student Diagnosed with TB

A 7th grade Whitefish Bay Middle School student has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, local health officials confirmed this afternoon.

Shorewood/Whitefish Bay Health Department Health Officer Jamie Berg has confirmed that a case of pulmonary tuberculosis has been identified at Whitefish Bay Middle School. The 7th grade student is currently being treated, according to a news release issued by the health department and Whitefish Bay School District.

Whitefish Bay School District Superintendent Mary Gavigan said the alerted the district about the TB case, and district officials and the health department met this morning to create a response plan. Middle school parents were notified of the TB case this morning.

The Health Department will give free TB skin tests Wednesday, and all 7th grade students are encouraged to be tested.

Gavigan said the district does not have any reason to believe the disease has spread.

“Close and continued contact is necessary to give TB to somebody,” she said. “The most common cases caught from another person is in fact family members.”

In the news release, Lorna Will, program director of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services TB Program, also said TB is difficult to spread.

“Catching TB from an infected person is not that easy," she said. "Close and continued contact (within six feet and several hours) with an infected person is usually required for the spread of the disease.”

In Wisconsin, about 70 new cases of tuberculosis are diagnosed each year, according to the release. The most common symptoms are chronic cough, fever, sweats and weight loss. Tuberculosis can be cured with a proper regimen of medicine, and contacts who are at risk of developing the disease may also receive medicine to decrease their risk of getting the disease.

For more information about tuberculosis and questions about potential exposure, contact your own health care provider, the Shorewood/Whitefish Bay Health Department at (414) 847-2710 or the tate TB Program at (608) 261-6319.

Further information on tuberculosis may be found at http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/tb/ and http://www.cdc.gov/tb/.