Four People Have Tested Positive For TB In Canutillo High School

El Paso City officials have announced that four people have tested positive for Tuberculosis infection in a recent investigation involving Canutillo High School. The Public Health Department has identified 165 individuals who may have been exposed to a person at the school who was diagnosed with active TB disease. So far 145 individuals have been screened and out of those 145, four tested positive.

Everyone who tested positive has been notified of their results and evaluated to make sure the disease had not developed in their lungs. Last year, 32 cases of active TB were identified and treated in the El Paso area. There were 36 cases in 2017, and 43 cases in 2016.

The El Paso Public Health Department identifies and treats approximately 250 latent, or non-infectious cases of the disease. TB is not easily transmitted but you can be exposed by the cough or sneeze of someone with TB. It is a bacterial illness and the likelihood of transmission increases with length of exposure to the cough/sneeze of someone with active TB. If you are determined to have TB, the treatment is special antibiotics.

The Department of Public Health has more information about TB and what to do if you have been notified that you might have been exposed. You can click here to find out more. If you have questions, you can also call the Department of Public Health TB Program at 915-212-6609.