Pestilence: The resurgence of TB

Sharp rise in XDR-TB cases in Western Cape SOUTH AFRICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION - June 21, 2007 Johannesburg, South Africa - Cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have more than quadrupled in the Western Cape in the past three months, the Cape Times reported on Thursday. The newspaper cited provincial health department figures. Also, the Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital has no room for more patients. It has 22 beds in the isolation wards to treat XDR-TB cases. This comes as the City of Cape Town has drawn up contingency plans in the event of an XDR-TB outbreak. Since World TB Day in March, 45 XDR-TB cases have been notified in the province. Eight people have died, according to department figures. In March, there were 10 known XDR-TB cases in the province. XDR-TB, which withstands first- and second-line antibiotic treatment, is almost impossible to treat. It has killed 290 patients nationwide. - - - - http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=312037&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/ Foreigners Make Up 20 Per Cent Of TB Cases BERNAMA [Malaysian National News Agency] - June 21, 2007 BALIK PULAU -- Foreign workers made up 20 per cent of the 16,665 tuberculosis (TB) cases recorded in the country last year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. He said the number of TB cases was on the rise and attributed this to the increase in foreign worker arrivals in the country. "Many TB cases are reported in Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor and Johor because there are many foreign workers in these states," he told reporters after opening a Durian Festival here Thursday. "As such, the ministry is stepping up measures to detect active TB carriers by making it compulsory for foreign workers to have a medical check-up within a month of their arrival in Malaysia." He said the increase in TB cases was also due to more people infected with HIV, adding that HIV patients could easily contract TB. "A total of 1,488 HIV carriers have TB," he added. Dr Chua said some TB patients could not be cured of the disease with the existing medicines, adding that 43 of such cases were reported last year, from 17 cases in 2005. http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=268909 Poultry workers test positive for TB 131 at Greenville plant show signs of exposure after active case found THE GREENVILLE NEWS (Greenville, SC - USA) - By Liv Osby - June 20, 2007 State health officials tested 286 employees at a Greenville poultry-processing plant for tuberculosis after a case of TB was reported there, and nearly half had a positive skin test. The investigation at Columbia Farms began a week ago after tests on the first individual confirmed active TB, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. The positive skin tests on 131 of the workers means they were exposed to TB sometime in their lives, not that they have active disease, he said. - - - - http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070620/NEWS01/706200388/1004/NEWS01 UPDATE! TB death: Woman could have had disease more than four months COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE - June 11, 2007 A college student who died of tuberculosis Friday at Memorial Hospital could have had the contagious form of the disease for up to four months, but health authorities say the public health risk is low. - - - [Kalpana Dangol, 19] took spring courses at Colorado State University at Pueblo but lived in Colorado Springs, health authorities said at a news conference Monday. - - - Calonge said Dangol, of Nepal, likely contracted the disease from her native country, where TB is endemic, but did not travel during the time period where she could have been contagious. He said she probably did not have the rare multidrug-resistant or extensively drug resistant strains of TB. Those forms of TB have a higher mortality rate, said Jim Hunger, assistant to the director for San Francisco Department of Health’s TB Control Center. - - - Memorial’s CEO, Dick Eitel, told the City Council on Monday afternoon that a dozen hospital staff members were exposed before diagnosis. They will be monitored and tested for TB, but Eitel said he believed their chances of contracting the disease is “very, very low.” He did not explain the basis for his belief. - - - - http://www.gazette.com/articles/patient_23506___article.html/colorado_department.html Three more at Bowie High test positive for inactive TB FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM - By Jan Jarvis - June 1, 2007 ARLINGTON - Three more people at Bowie High School have tested positive for inactive tuberculosis, health officials said Friday. The results mean that the individuals have been infected, “but they do not have an active disease,” said Gerry Drewyer, Tarrant County’s division manager for tuberculosis elimination. So far, the health department has screened 175 people for the lung disease. Seven have tested positive for inactive TB. The only active case involves a Bowie High student who was diagnosed in late May. Only those with positive test results are urged to take preventative therapy, she said. The Bowie High testing began early this week after the school district learned the student had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. The strain has not been identified, but it is not believed to be drug-resistant, officials said. - - - - http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/122651.html Travelers possibly exposed to drug-proof TB Infected man flew from Prague to U.S.; authorities seeking those on flight ASSOCIATED PRESS - May 29, 2007 ATLANTA - A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. government after possibly exposing passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights this month, health officials said Tuesday. It is the first time since 1963 that the government issued a quarantine order. The last such order was to quarantine a patient with smallpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC urged people on the same flights to get checked for tuberculosis. - - - - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18923867/ Border Agent Allowed TB Patient in U.S. ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Greg Bluestein and Devlin Barrett - May 31, 2007 ATLANTA - A globe-trotting Atlanta lawyer with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis was allowed back into the U.S. by a border inspector who disregarded a computer warning to stop him and don protective gear, officials said Thursday. The inspector has been removed from border duty. The unidentified inspector explained that he was no doctor but that the infected man seemed perfectly healthy and that he thought the warning was merely "discretionary," officials briefed on the case told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still under investigation. The patient was identified as Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old personal injury lawyer who returned last week from his wedding and honeymoon trip through Italy, the Greek isles and other spots in Europe. His new father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a CDC microbiologist whose specialty is TB and other bacteria. - - - - http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070531/D8PFL1P00.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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